SQUARE DANCE GROUP `STOMPS' WAY TO GOOD TIME

This is the original group of Blue Bird Stompers, when they just did a form of dance called clogging. They decided later to aks their husbands to join so they could square dance.

"Anybody can square dance," says Donna Barks of Glen Allen. Barks is the leader of The Blue Bird Stompers, a group of Jackson square dancers who have given the unique dance form a new dimension.

"Square dancing may have an old-fashioned beginning," said Barks, "but it's been modernized."

The group was formed in 1990, with just six girls who taking clogging lessons, which Barks called "country western tap dancing." The group originally clogged at events but that was to change.

"Clogging just wasn't enough," Barks said. "It didn't keep people interested."

So the ladies asked their husbands to join the group and they put square dancing in their act.

They say it wasn't hard to get their husbands to join; after all, they had all been square dancing for years.

"They didn't have to learn anything new," said Blue Bird Stomper Loretta Fluegge of Jackson with a chuckle.

The group, which is now six couples, just performed at a Fredericktown fund raiser at Larue Care Center. They also performed at River Fest and the Jerry Lewis Telethon at the Show Me Center last year.

"Square dancers will go anywhere to square dance," Fluegge said.

And Barks said their performances are always fun.

"We exhibit the kind of dancing we like to do," Barks said. "We square dance for a while, then we ask for audience participation. We can teach them to dance and do it all at the same time."

They have also incorporated country line dancing that has been all the rage lately.

If one attends one of their square dances, he or she is likely to hear Red Foley's "Salty Red Dog," from the early 1930s or Jimmy Dean's "Little Black Book." Then they may work their way up to "Electric Slide" and "Achy Breaky Heart."

You will see promenading and do se doing, but that's not all. This group has made up their own square dance moves.

They have a complicated move called the Venus and Mars. This entails the ladies and their husbands to form a human star and branch off. The ladies go one way, form their own star and the guys do the same.

If it sounds complicated, it's because it is.

This group isn't just in this for the fun, though. They also do much volunteer community service with their act.

The Blue Bird Stompers perform at nursing homes, community functions, sesquentenials and other functions.

They never charge for their dancing, but they do take donations, to help cover the cost of traveling and music.

Barks says that square dancing is not as popular and she would like to see it catch on again.

But she still loves it.

"My favorite part is when I hear comments from folks that watch us saying that they enjoyed it," Barks said. "That's why we do it."

It's more than a hobby to this group. They even attend state and national square dancing conventions.

In June, several of The Blue Bird Stompers attended the a convention in Birmingham Alabama.

"There were dancers from other countries," Barks said. "There were dancers from Japan, Germany, the Phillipines -- all over."

While at these conventions, they take advantage of the educational panels and promotional ideas to get more involvement in square dancing.

And it also helps keep current square dancers interested.

"They always teach us something different," Fluegge. "Square dancing is the best entertainment."

Fluegge also likes it because it's something she can do with her husband. "It's something we can do as husband and wife," she said.

Both Fluegge and Barks say they always have a good time.

"There's never any alcohol," Fluegge said, "though there's so much laughing, it probably sounds like there is.

"There's no alcohol because you're mind has to be clear. You couldn't square dance with alcohol in your system."

But they say you do have to maintain your sense of humor. Because occasionally, one of them may make a mistake.

"You can lose your timing, you can lose your place, but never lose your smile," Barks said.

And respect is important in a group like this one.

"We have mutual respect," Barks said. "Everybody knows one person can't do it all."