Capital City Squares

Location: Sacramento, CA, USA

Website: https://www.capitalcitysquares.org/

Started: Aug 1981

Admitted to IAGSDC: Founding member 1983

Status: Active

Founding Members: Ed Chaney, Karl Murray

Classes: Wednesday nights, 6:30-8:00 pm, followed by full level dancing 8:00 PM-9:15 PM.

Club Caller[s]: Allan Hurst (as of August, 2023), Charles Bridges (emeritus), Tom Kaiser (emeritus).

Levels: SSD, Mainstream, Plus, and some Advanced

Dance Location[s]: Fruitridge Community Center, 4000 Fruitridge Rd, Sacramento, CA 95820

Fly-Ins Hosted:

Conventions Co-Hosted:

Additional Information:
CCS is a member of the Associated Square Dancers of Superior California (ASDSC) (since 199x). The Prime 8s and Pride Promenaders are/were both spin off clubs.

History:

From the Program Book of the 1st IAGSDC Convention held in Seattle in 1984:

The history of the Capital City Squares is a true fairy tale. Once upon a time in the summer of 1981, a handsome, young prince named Ed Chaney got together with a wonderful wizard named Karl Murray. Between them a beautiful baby was created—here after known as the Capital City Squares (CCS). Word of this baby spread quickly throughout the kingdom of Sacramento, and soon princes and princesses, and even some queens, were showing up on Tuesday nights to square dance at the Parking Lot.

Dancing flourished as the populace passed beginners level and attained mainstream level. Three successful hoe-downs were held at the Parking Lot before woe befell the bouncing baby CCS now nearly two years old. The wicked Parking Lot closed its doors, and CCS became a vagabond wandering to the Forum, The Power Plant, and the Carousel until the fairy godmother, City of Sacramento, granted refuge at the Coloma Community Center at 46th and T Streets. To this day CCS refers to this shelter as home.

Now gracefully approaching the middle of its third year with a new set of by-laws, new officers, and a niche in the National Association of Gay Square Dancers, the CCS can look back on a past filled with triumphs. These triumphs include the three hoe-downs, two Reno rodeos, San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day Parade, lots of good times together and with our neighbors the Western Star Dancers of San Francisco, and the Seattle Convention.

Media Features:

Sacramento Home To Nation's Second-Oldest Gay Square Dance Group^[1]

Newsletter:

Clippings:

Article {Mom Guess What)^[2]
Article {Mom Guess What)^[3]
Article Inside Sacramento^[4]
Article {Mom Guess What)^[5]
Article (The Sacramento Star)^[6]
Article {Mom Guess What)^[7]
Advert {Mom Guess What)^[8]

Ephemera:

The original club badge and logo from the founding of the club in 1981. Note the spelling of the word Capitol, instead of Capital.
The second version of the club badge with the corrected spelling of Capital. This was used during the later 1980s.
Banner, c.1985
The current club badge and logo. The logo was designed by David Levy and put in place in the early 1990s.