Steve Cates — Founder, Director & Caller, Cripple Creek Cloggers Steve Cates initially formed the group in 1967 as a 4‑H project at Kittrell School in Warren County, Tennessee. The aim was to provide evening entertainment and cultural activity for youth at camp. After the troupe earned top honors in multiple local contests, including county and state 4-H events, it performed publicly, eventually evolving from the Kittrell 4‑H Square Dancers to the Cripple Creek Cloggers. Steve led the troupe on its first international tour in 1973 to Romania, becoming cultural ambassadors early on. By 1977, the group represented the U.S. at an international folkloric festival in Puerto Rico, experiences that inspired the creation of the International Folkfest in 1982. As of 2024, Steve Cates, then 83 years old, attended his first major trip as non‑performing leader, expressing pride in how the troupe continued to thrive in his absence. The Tennessee State University preserves over five decades of history from the Kittrell 4‑H Dancers, Rutherford County Square Dancers, and Cripple Creek Cloggers, testament to Steve Cates’s long-term cultural impact. In 2023, amidst the group’s 56th year, Cates continued teaching and calling Appalachian-style square dances at the Smyrna Senior Center, offering free classes where no experience was necessary. In 2024, the Cripple Creek Cloggers, under his direction, hosted another International Folkfest, and prepared for overseas performances in the Czech Republic, continuing their role as both educators and international ambassadors.