ADRIAN, Mich. — By Atticus Sumner’s estimation, the Cottonwood Cloggers have taught folk dance style to thousands in the organization’s 21 years. Now he hopes the group he founded as a teenager can bring that to even more people by expanding to communities throughout southern Michigan, northwestern Ohio and northern Indiana. “I’ve had this desire because I’ve seen the need where other communities could do this,” he said.

Sumner wants to use the Cloggers’ influence to start franchises that would run after-school clubs where children would be able to join a social group and participate in a physical activity, thereby fighting childhood obesity. “Everybody wants what they do to grow,” Sumner said.

“I feel we have the solution to a bunch of problems.” Sumner’s goal is to get a million kids involved in clogging and has coined the franchising effort “A million taps for a million kids.” To further the clogging experience, Sumner wants to start Camp Cottonwood, which he envisions as a 100-acre facility where instructors could be taught and students could gather for workshops. Clogging is a folk dance style similar to tap or Irish dancing.

The dancers’ shoes have taps on the soles, with each troupe or individual performing to a variety of music styles. The Cloggers have studios in Adrian, Ann Arbor and Jackson, with performing teams from the three appearing at about 100 events each year. Sumner said clogging can be done by anyone, which can make it appealing to children who aren’t interested in sports and to adults who are looking for a low-impact, physical activity.