Cecil & Karen Gregory
River City Rounds
St. James, Missouri
St. Louis Metro District

2023 Square Dancers of the Year

Cecil & Karen Gregory have been square dancers since 1980, first joining Melody Squares in St. Louis. They danced Mainstream, Plus and Advanced until health issues required Cecil to curtail his square dancing.

They started Round Dance lessons at Merry Mixers and are still actively involved with Round Dance classes and dances.

Karen and Cecil have been regular visitors at square and round dance clubs throughout the Metro St Louis area for the past 43 years. During the pandemic, they kept River City Rounds socially connected and financially viable by setting up a distribution system for donating and delivering farm fresh eggs from their chickens to members’ homes throughout St. Louis County. The egg sales continue (now in person), and all proceeds go to help the club’s finances.

It’s a 1½ hour drive each way from their home in St. James to St. Louis, but they come every week for Round Dance classes and to dance with River City Rounds every month, demonstrating their strong commitment to the activity. In addition, they attend dances in neighboring Rolla and support square dancing demonstrations when they can, most recently at the Muny.

Karen and Cecil’s accomplishments are many. They were instrumental in the start-up of St. Louis’ only Round Dance club: River City Rounds. They serve on a planning committee for the annual St. Louis Jamboree, recommending featured national cuers. They have served as officers in 4 clubs: Wickerbobs, Merry Mixers, Meramec Valley, and River City Rounds (president 3 terms since 2018).