Ranch dancers donned their best cowboy hats for the September 2023 monthly Western dance featuring Anthony Taylor Jr. and the Good Ol’ Boys. Dancers wearing a cowboy hat were eligible for the door prize, won by John McCallum. (Photo by Bob Authur)
Janelle Authur
Anthony Taylor Jr. and the Good Ol’ Boys “burned the barn down” with their classic Country Western music at the Sept. 8 SaddleBrooke Ranch (SBR) Dance Club’s monthly Western dance. In their first appearance on the Sol Ballroom stage, the band’s steel guitar added a different dimension to the music for the more than 90 dancers. Dancers clapped and filled the floor all evening, giving the band a rousing reception.
At the September dance, the club and dancers celebrated two years of Western dances at the Ranch. Recognizing the popularity of Western dancing in Tucson, the SBR Social Dance Club held its first monthly Western dance in September 2021. Since then, the club hasn’t looked back, bringing some of the best-known and respected Tucson-area Country Western bands to the Sol Ballroom monthly.
All the monthly Western dances feature a door prize, with entry requirements that change each month—such as cowboy boots or jeans, or, in September, a cowboy hat. John McCallum was the winner of the September door prize—two tickets to the Garth Brooks concert in the Sol Ballroom.
All levels of dancers are welcome at the dances and newer dancers are encouraged to “come on down” and practice their newly acquired skills. The bands play a wide variety of Country Western music, including two-step, waltzes, swing, partner pattern, and a few Western line dances. Given the size of the dance floor, registration is limited to 90 dancers.
Patrick Rayl and the .357 Band bring their music to the Ranch on Thursday, Nov. 9, and Whiskey Riverdogs will round out the dance year, playing on Thursday, Dec. 7. Bands are already booked for the first quarter of 2024, with Anthony Taylor Jr. and the Good Ol’ Boys returning on Friday, Jan. 12, Wild Ride on Friday, Feb. 2, and Patrick Rayl and the .357 Band on Friday, March 1.
The club also offers Western dance lessons throughout the year, including the two-step, Western waltz, swing, and partner pattern dances. For details on dances and lessons in 2023 and/or to register, go to the club’s website at www.sbrsbdc.club.
Information on the dances and lessons is emailed directly to club members and those on the club’s mailing list. It is also on the club’s website and in the Ranch Reminder and Ranch Events weekly newsletters.