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Boots & Bows has been one of the South Bay’s most popular Square Dance clubs since it was organized as a beginner’s class in 1955.  Thanks to the hard work and dedication of its officers and members, the club is still going strong, and celebrated its 56th anniversary in the spring of 2012.  When an organization lasts this long, you know it must be doing something right!

The club began life as an adult school class sponsored by the Anderson PTA of Lawndale.  By January, after only ten weeks of instruction, several squares of beginners felt confident enough in their progress to attend an annual March of Dimes Dance.  On March 17, 1956, five squares of enthusiastic new dancers marked their graduation by accepting Charter #340 from Associated Square Dancers, the local governing body.  The new members christened their club the Boots & Bows of Lawndale and hired their teacher, Leo Lambert, as their regular caller.

After a promising start, the new club ran into some hard times.  Attendance at Boots & Bows dances slumped, and reached a low point when only two squares showed up for one of the dances.  The surviving members were tempted to spend their treasury on a big party and then call it quits ... but elected instead to spice things up with a variety of callers.  The new policy got off to a great start when 12 squares showed up for a dance on June 30.  Month by month, attendance improved as a parade of outstanding callers attracted dancers from around Southern California to Will Rogers School.

In time, the club adopted a policy of hiring a different caller for every dance.  After that, the next step was to add live music.  For the next eight months, Trixie and Bill added to the club’s growing popularity.  In October, the club sponsored a Halloween Costume dance with Larry Ward doing his spook-calling routine.  Fifteen squares showed up to rattle their bones.  A month later, 17 squares filled the hall, drawn by the chance to dance to the popular Bob Van Antwerp.

Boots & Bows was off and running ...

Boots and Bows Today

Boots and Bows is a vibrant club offering regular festive themed dances.  Our dances feature a variety of experienced, accomplished square dance callers and round dance cuers.  In addition to our regularly scheduled dances we go to dances at other square dance clubs in the area including the Honeycombers, Red Ribbons, Heels and Soles, and the Activ-8-ters.  We offer classes and workshops to learn square dancing.  Between our dances, visitations to other clubs, and classes there are several opportunities to dance each week.