Club History

Boots in Squares, the Coachella Valley’s gay/lesbian square dance club, was started in late 1993 by Steve Siporin, who had danced with Tinseltown Squares in Hollywood.  Our first meetings were held at the J.C. Frey building in Sunrise Park.  We then moved to the old chapel on Vella Street in Palm Springs.

 After some initial turmoil, the group disbanded, and reorganized in early 1994. By this time we had been joined by Vinnie Stoppia, who had been active with Times Squares in New York.  Vinnie undertook the teaching of the group, using instructional tapes.  At this time the name Boots in Squares, suggested by Cameron Smith, was chosen for the group.

The 1994-1995 season saw the first full Mainstream class, taught by Vinnie.  When the chapel closed, the group had to move, and met part of the year at a soup kitchen on Industrial Road, finishing out the season at the Tool Shed annex, where the first graduation from Mainstream took place. In 1995, Boots in Squares was admitted to the International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs, at the IAGSDC convention in Chicago.

At the start of the 1995-96 season, we moved to the Pavilion dance studio in Sunrise Park, where we remained until the fall of 1999, meeting on Wednesday evenings.  When Vinnie Stoppia was unable to continue as our instructor, we secured the services of our first professional caller, Scot Byars, who was living in Desert Hot Springs at the time. Under Scot, we had our first Plus classes. In 1999, Scot’s work situation forced him to leave the area, and we finished out the season by attending the Monday night meetings of the Circle O’s, the straight group of Palm Springs, taught by Carrie Masters.  Carrie finished out that year’s Plus class.

The club grew steadily in membership and in recognition.  We started giving demonstrations at various local gay events.  1997 saw our initial appearance in the Palm Springs Gay Pride parade.  At the encouragement of local straight square dance groups, Boots in Squares joined the Cow Counties Hoedown Association, which includes square and round dance groups throughout Riverside and San Bernardino Countys.

At the start of the 1999-2000 season, we secured the services of a new professional caller, Jim Smith.  Jim lived in Orange County, but his business brought him to Palm Springs on Fridays, so we changed our meeting night to Friday.  At this time we also changed our meeting Place to the Cathedral City Senior Center.  Under Jim, we had our first A1 and A2 classes.

After two very successful seasons, Jim was unable to continue as our caller.  We didn’t have to look very far for a replacement – we engaged Cliff Simpson, the nationally known caller for the Desert Roadrunners of Palm Desert.  On account of Cliff’s busy calling and teaching schedule, we changed our meeting night from Friday to Monday.  The club continued to grow impressively.  On February 28, 2004, we celebrated our 10th Anniversary.

In March of 2008 we moved to the new Cathedral City Senior Center at Tierra del Sol, where we continue to meet.  In January of 2009, Cliff Simpson resigned as our caller/teacher.  Club member Terri Sherrer, who had moved to the valley from Alabama in 2006, took over the teaching and calling.  She also started holding workshops on Thursday evenings at a mobile home park in Palm Springs.

A major milestone event took place in February of 2010, when Boots in Squares held its first ever Fly-In, at the Palm Springs Pavilion.  The Fly-In was very successful, and has become an annual affair.

In the Spring of 2011, Cliff Simpson returned as our caller.  Terri Sherrer continued to call and teach on Thursday evenings, forming a group called the Windmill Twirlers.

The club has grown steadily since then.  Each year in November, Boots in Squares participates in the Palm Springs Pride Parade.

In 2017, Boots in Squares hosted the annual IAGSDC Convention in Palm Springs.  Eight hundred and twenty five (825) dancers enjoyed over a dozen local and national callers.

As one of the largest LGBT square dance clubs in the country, Boots in Squares held their 25th Anniversary dance on Saturday, April 21, 2018.

Bill Eyler joined Cliff Simpson as a caller for Boots in Squares in 2019.  Bill shared his joy of camaraderie through dancing in his lively, colorful calling style.  Comfortable with calling and teaching from beginners through the Challenge programs, Bill is able to entertain dancers and leave them wanting more.

MORE TO COME:

In March of 2019, the world of square dancing came to a full stop as the Covid pandemic arrived in the United States.  We stopped dancing and didn’t see the dance floor again until June of 2021.  That was short lived as the Delta variant raised it’s ugly head.  Dancing stopped again in August.  We cautiously returned to dancing in late September wearing masks and washing our hands with disinfectant between tips, 

Last update: 12/18/21