About the club

The Smithville Old-Time Dance Club exists to keep a beloved local tradition alive: the old-time clogging and square dancing that has filled the stage at the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree for generations.

At the heart of it is Mary Ann Puckett — a native DeKalb Countian whom neighbors have affectionately called “Smithville's own Square-Dancing Queen.” Her love of the Jamboree runs deep; in 2023 she marked her 47th year at the festival. Somewhere along the way, sharing that love with the next generation became her mission. “I love being able to share with them something I've loved for so long,” she has said.

Today that mission takes the shape of seven square dance teams — around four dozen dancers — who carry the names of DeKalb County communities and prepare each spring to be Jamboree-stage ready. Their success has carried the club well beyond the square: to the Tennessee State Fair and even onto the historic Grand Ole Opry stage.

The club is also welcoming a new generation of adult dancers back to the floor with community dance and clogging nights — proof that old-time dance really is for every age.

The club's home is a classic downtown storefront at 105 West Market Street, just steps off the Smithville town square — a warm room with a real dance floor where beginners take their first steps and teams polish their routines.