The Cripple Creek Cloggers continue to expand. Their Sunday afternoon training sessions are attracting new members who are interested in getting healthier, meeting friends and traveling the world.

Founder and Director Steve Cates said, "We have three viable invitations for travel to European festivals in 2018. Sarah & The Romans have agreed to meet us in Europe no matter which of these invitations we accept. As is usual, the only cost to participate is to pay the round trip airfare from Nashville to the city in Europe where the festival will meet us."

1. BELGIUM: August 9 (departure from Nashville )/August 10 ( arrival in Brussels, Belgium; August 19 (depart Brussels and return to Nashville) August 10 -16 - INTERNATIONAL DANS-EN MUZIEKFESTIVAL KA-DANS TORHOUT, Torhout, Belgium, near the coast of Belgium - Hosting is with guest-families - Special tourist excursion to Brughes - Other countries confirmed, Macdeonia, Bolivia, India, Italy (Sicily) - Guest-families often organize special excursions, activities, etc. August 15-19 (Yes, there is a bit of an overlap, but the two festivals work this out between themselves!) - 44th International Festival of Bonheiden, Belgium, in the center of the country - Hosting is with guest-families - Special tourist excursion to Brussels - Other countries confirmed, Nepal, Martinique, France - Guest families often organize activities, excursions, etc., including possible travel to Antwerp ( very near) and also some "interesting towns within a 15 to 20 km radius: Leuven (Louvain), Lier, etc." WWI cemeteries are near.

DEADLINE for saying "yes" or "no" to this invitation: Sun., Feb. 25.

2. Poland: Departure is on July 22 and return is July 29. Hosted by the towns of Brusy, Wiele, Chojnice and Koscierzyna. Group housing is provided in one of these towns. The airports of Gadansk or Warsaw may be used. ( They will pick us up by bus in Krakow, if we want to use the airport there, but the cost will be $1500 each way for renting the bus.)

DEADLINE for saying "yes" or "no" to this invitation: Sun., Mar. 9.

3. Estonia: Departure is on July 3 and return is July 9. We are in Voru, Estonia. Housing is in hotels or hostels. The airports we are allowed to use are Riga or Tallinn. There is the possibility for us to extend our stay for a short time to participate in festivals in Finland, Latvia, LIthuania or Poland.

Cates said, "The deadline for saying yes or no is Sunday, March 16, 2018."

International FolkFest

Get ready for the 36th International FolkFest here in Murfreesboro. The 2018 gala will be June 10-17. Troupes from Sweden, Mexico, Italy, USA ( Cripple Creek Cloggers and Uncle Shuffelo and His Haint HOllow Hootenanny) will visit area schools, churches and organizations.

Cates commented that the schedule is almost identical to 2017. A Welcome Party will be at The Grove on that Monday evening. There will also be a dinner at the Lane Agri Park on Wednesday night, and they will perform on Friday night Winfree Bryant Middle School, near where the group has been going in Lebanon, beginning as usual with dinner. Saturday morning all of the groups will perform on the Murfreesboro square starting at 10:00AM. In addition, that evening they head to Bell Buckle for another performance and dinner. In addition, the international dancers will be at MTSU's Murphy Center to help with a performance and workshop for the Dance Section of the Governor's School for the Arts at MTSU on June 19, 2018, from 7 - 8PM.

Practice

Practice upcoming on Sunday afternoon February 25th at 4:00 o'clock in the Smyrna Senior Citizens Center at 100 Raikes Street.

Cates stressed, "Please remember as a courtesy to all of us, let us know if you cannot be present. Please continue to be on time, so we can start at 4PM and finish on time."