In a small town, tradition helps young people find belonging

In the center of Winslow, AR, a town of under 400 people, there is a large stone building that welcomes people from many neighboring towns and cities. On a Saturday evening, you might hear fiddle and banjo music streaming out of the windows and doors. It’s Old-Time Square Dancing night. 

“Some people come wearing leggings or dresses, some are barefoot or they have cowboy boots,” says Abby Hollis, one of the organizers. “This is a community of people that probably never would have known each other otherwise, that are getting these chances to see each other over and over again.”

Old-Time Square Dancing is not the Western square dancing you may have learned in elementary school. It’s fast and informal, where folksjump around and change partners as they move in circles as well as squares.

“There are people I would consider some of my best friends who I couldn’t contact if I wanted to because I don’t have their phone number,” says Hollis. “I know it sounds like a bad thing, but it’s sort of special because I know I’ll see them at the next square dance and that’ll be like our chance to be with one another.”

The sessions are hosted by Ozark Folkways, a community nonprofit dedicated to the preservation, development, instruction, and celebration of regional arts, crafts, and music. They also host events across Northwest Arkansas, from fairs to schools, sharing traditional folk arts with people of all ages.

Hollis first got involved a few years ago, when she came back home after art school. She had done internships in rural communities in Peru and India and she saw how arts brought people together. “I really fell in love seeing craft as a way that communities come together and also seeing communities come together to create crafts. The two things are kind-of creating each other,” she says.

She hoped bringing those lessons back to her hometown would help her and others feel connected to their neighbors. She started visiting different arts groups around Northwest Arkansas, found Ozark Folkways, and attended its Old-Time Square Dancing session. She felt right at home. So much so that she is now the incoming president of the organization. 

“When I first got involved, it was mostly older folks,” she says. She wanted other young people to join in, so she started posting events on Instagram and doing outreach at schools and universities, hosting pop-up events, jam sessions, and fiber arts summer camps. 

“What I found is that people are much more comfortable communing with one another when that’s not on paper,” she says. “If you call people and you’re like, ‘Hey, let’s get together to build community’, everyone likes that idea in principle, but it’s a little intimidating. But if we’re coming together to do something fun and community is sort of a by-product, it’s more approachable.”

Now, most events hosted by Ozark Folkways connect neighbors of all ages. “I think we are tapping into something magical and young people really stick to it. When you are in a community around folk arts, there is a nostalgia for something we never knew. And then when you experience it, you realize, ‘Oh, this is how it should feel to be a human being on earth.’”

Hollis recently got a 2025 Weaver Award, bestowed by her neighbors. Weave is now inviting applications from community partners interested in starting Weaver Awards and using Weave’s other tools to create an ethic of weaving for their neighbors. To learn more and apply, click here.