Gardner Patton

Gardner began square dance calling in 1959 following in the footsteps of his father Miner Patton who called eastern style square dances and contra dances. He taught his first class in Providence, Rhode Island in 1960. In 1961 he moved to New Jersey where he called for barn dances and made guest appearances at clubs in Northern New Jersey. For several years he and his wife Diana led a folk dance group in Morris County, New Jersey. In the 70's he and his wife were Presidents of Hanover Squares, a square dance club in Whippany, New Jersey. Later they became members of Bee Sharps dancing in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Currently Gardner is calling for the Bee Sharps new dancer dances and is a member of the Callers Council of New Jersey and Callerlab the international callers organization. He has given up his 78s, 33s, 45s, and CDs and now uses MP3 music from a computer to accompany his calling.

At New Square Music, Gardner plays many roles. He composes music, plays the synthesizers, mixes the music, is the webmaster and produces the music.

Tal Patton