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Do you have actual plans today? Or are you planning to hunker down and stay home, hoping for a great big thump of snow? I’m torn. I love snow but am anticipating the delivery of a new washer and dryer. So, it can snow as much as it wants as long as it doesn’t interfere with that. 

It’s rather self-centered of me, I know. It’s also rather hilarious that I have reached the stage in life where all of my weekend excitement is tied up with new home appliances. 

I did see something fun happening at the East Columbia Branch library today. 


There’s a meetup of the 40+ Double Dutch Club at ten am at the East Columbia Branch of the Howard County Library. It turns out that the 40+ Double Dutch Club is a nationwide movement. Here’s their website: 40 + Double Dutch Club. There are local groups (sub clubs) all over the country, and in Canada and Germany as well. 

Columbia, Maryland Subclub: 

  • 5450 Beaverkill Rd., Columbia, MD 21044
  • Saturday meetups: 10:00am-11:30am
  • Captain: Valerie Howard-Lee
  • Co Captain: Frances Elliott
  • ColumbiaMD40plusddc@gmail.com

The main Facebook page for the group describes it as follows:

The 40+ Double Dutch Club was created in 2016 for women age 40 and above who want an exciting, affordable way to tone, burn calories and improve their physical and mental health while interacting with other women, reliving positive childhood memories and creating new ones! We jump Double Dutch, Chinese rope, hopscotch, hula hoop and play all of the games we did on the playground growing up! And we end every meetup in prayer because we are grateful to God that 20, 30 and 40 years later we can still JUMP!!!

Curious about this photo?

 


Beyond the Ropes is a 2022 documentary which tells the story of the 40+ Double Dutch Club. You can watch it online, just in case we do get snowed in, so here’s the link. It’s about forty minutes long. For a quick peek at the Columbia, Maryland group, here’s a recent video filmed at a meetup on 12/10/23:

Columbia, MD sub club video (5 minutes)

While I did learn how to jump rope as I was growing up, I don’t think I ever saw anyone doing Double Dutch until my post-college years. It’s an amazing activity to watch. I can’t imagine having that much coordination and focus! 

WYPR in Baltimore did a show last January focusing on Fitness for Every Body which included the 40+ Double Dutch Club. (There’s a sub club in Baltimore, too.) They interview founder Pamela Robinson, a Chicagoan who got it all started in 2016, to “bring women over 40 together for exercise and fellowship.”

A strong component of the group is fostering a return to the joy of childhood play. I’m all for that, even if I’d never master Double Dutch. Play is nourishment for the soul. Maybe if adults played more and felt its benefits, they’d be less inclined to take it away from children. 

But that’s another story altogether.

What have you got planned for the day? Also, do you know how to Double Dutch?


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