About El Camino Reelers
El Camino Reelers is the LGBTQ square dancing club of Silicon Valley. Our club was founded in 1985 by Marilyn Martinyak and Pat Dixon as an alternative to the gay square dance clubs located an hour away in San Francisco. We're now one of the largest and best-known gay square dance clubs in the country.
Our regular club night is Tuesday evening at St. Andrews United Methodist Church at 4111 Alma Street in Palo Alto, just 20 minutes away from San Jose.
We also hold quarterly Saturday dances featuring nationally-known callers, no-experience-required Open House Nights, and occasional Friday potlucks and picnics with outdoor dancing. .
We provide a smoke-free and alcohol-free environment for the LGBTQ community and friends to meet and socialize. And while we can make no guarantees, people have been known to find true love at a square dance!
You don't need a partner, you don't need a fancy outfit, you don't need to know anything about dancing, and you don't need to be coordinated. What you do need is a pair of comfortable shoes and the desire to have fun!
You don't even need to be gay. Many of our long-time members are straight. They just like the relaxed atmosphere of El Camino Reelers, our casual dress, high energy, fun costume parties, and the way we accept everyone - even when you goof up!
We're also an inexpensive way to have fun. At just $10.00 a night you're likely to spend more money going out for a snack afterwards than you are at the dance!
The Reel Deal: Meet the Peninsula's longtime LGBTQ Square Dance Club
In April 2024, Palo Alto Weekly published an article on El Camino Reelers, with interviews and photos taken at our January 12 potluck. You can read it here: https://www.paloaltoonline.com/ae/2024/03/21/the-reel-deal-meet-the-peninsulas-longtime-lgbtq-suqare-dance-club/
About our logo
ECR's logo is the historic El Camino Real mission bell set against eight rainbow-colored squares. Here's a 2019 article from the Los Altos Town Crier about the famous mission bells.