About Our Club
The idea for our club began when Ethel Zimmerman visited Boise, Idaho in July 1973, and had a great time dancing at the "Single Swingers." At the time, all of the other clubs in the St. Louis area were couples-only. She talked to all the other single dancers she knew in St. Louis and they all agreed it would be a great thing to have their own club.
During January 1974, Ethel co-founded the club with Leland Stevens and called it the Swingin' Singles. They began with 24 members, 11 men and 13 women. The Swingin' Singles Club danced on the first Saturday of each month at the County Branch of the YWCA. A class was started and built under the leadership of Ethel Zimmerman. The classes always had an abundance of ladies, so to assure them a chance to dance, a number system was used.
On February 20, 1982 the club moved to our present hall, Webster Groves Christian Church.
As time went by and other clubs dropped their restrictions for singles to join, the need for a singles-only club was eliminated. Swingin' Singles allowed married couples to remain in the club, but new members had to be single to join. In 2005 the club changed its name to Singles & Doubles and membership restrictions were removed.
Our club has hosted the Metro Free Picnic and was the host club for the Single Square Dancers USA 2013 National Convention. Each January we hold a Cosmic Dance where we provide glow sticks for the dancers and turn out the lights. Everyone enjoys this fun event. Every year in August we hold a Back To School Dance and collect donations for a school district in need of supplies. Recent beneficiaries include the Joplin, MO School District that suffered damage from a tornado in 2011, and the Wisner-Pilger School District in Moore, OK that was hit by twin tornadoes in 2014.
