Pass Thru the Alamo

The fly-in of Alamo City Wranglers.

It shared a rotation with other "local" fly-ins, Dixie Style to Memphis (Cotton Pickin’ Squares) and Spin Chain the Plains (Sho-Me Squares).

History

#	Year	Date	City	State	Venues	Theme	Callers
1	1992	Mar 27-29	San Antonio	TX	Bonham Exchange		Bill Eyler, Rusty Fennell, Terry Kephart
2	1993	Mar 26-28	San Antonio	TX			Terry Kephart, Anne Uebelacker
3	1994	Mar 25-27	San Antonio	TX			Mike DeSisto, Terry Kephart, Andy Shore
4	1995	Mar 24-26	San Antonio	TX
5	1997	Mar 14-16	San Antonio	TX			J Carlton, J Kephart
6	2000	Mar 30-Apr 2	San Antonio	TX		Fool Around the Alamo	A Stevens
7	2003	Apr 24-27	San Antonio	TX		Flutterwheel to Fiesta	Deborah Carroll-Jones
8	2005	Apr 14-17	San Antonio	TX		Quinceañera!	Bill Eyler, Terry Wheeler

Recollections

TIMES SQUARE DANCERS HIT SAN ANTONIO AND THE ALAMO LIKE A TORNADO

The Alamo City Wranglers hosted their first annual Fly In in San Antonio, Texas the last weekend in March Harold G. and I flew-in Thursday night.

The Fly-In look place at the Bonham Exchange, the largest gay bar in San Antonio right across the street from the Alamo! Once upon a time it was a men's club built by a rich Jewish businessman and there are still Star of Davids on the stained glass windows of the upstairs ballroom where we danced. The Bonham also admits youths under the drinking age! Everyone over 21 is tagged with a hospital like bracelet upon admission. Imagine our surprise when among the first arrivals were the smiling faces of Sandi B. and Carole H. Later, Sheldon Green showed up and also making an appearance was Kip C. who was visiting family in Austin that weekend, a total of 6 TSer's!

The Fly-In callers were Rusty Fennell, who called for TS last summer, handsome Bill Eyler from Albuquerque, and San Antonio's own Terry Kephart, the official Alamo City Wrangler resident caller. Tips were broken up into Class level: Mainstream, Plus (usually four squares), and Advanced (one square). One of the nicest things about the whole fly-in was the lavish buffet table throughout the fly-in. With tasty sandwiches, chicken fajitas, curites [sic] and dip, cookies, crackers, nachos and chips always available (and soda for 50 cents)! The Alamo City Wranglers, including the beginners, were all superb dancers, and very "hot" and gracious to us!

Saturday, before dancing, we checked out the River Centre, a humongous (like everything in Texas) shopping mall built on a man-made extension of the San Antonio River which snakes throughout the downtown area. One of the most interesting shops was CATS CATS CATS and you'll see Harold and me in our new T-shifts with the multiple cats in Cowboy gear. By the time we finished dancing on Saturday afternoon, the rain had stopped. I explored the Alamo and the River Centre.

The Saturday dinner banquet was a buffet table of Texan delicacies and there was a huge chocolate cake in the shape of a decorated sombrero. There were acknowledgments to all the volunteers, and welcomes to the guests from other clubs (Vancouver, Seattle, Albuquerque, Chicago, Trenton, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Baltimore). After eating, there was a show in the disco featuring San Antonio's stellar female impersonators (doing country-western numbers and "Best Little Whorehouse") and the San Antonio Gay Men's Chorus (whose leader was an Alamo Wrangler!) After the show, we square danced until 11:00 PM. That night we hit the Silver Dollar and did a couple of demonstration squares for the appreciative cowboys and cowgirls before two stepping until closing.

Sunday morning we started dancing at 12 noon. About 3 PM we looked out the window and saw, just like WIZARD OF OZ, a dark cloud approaching the city. "Don't worry," someone said, "tornadoes never hit the city." Within fifteen minutes this one did, with giant rocks of hail battering the windows and the cars in the parking lot. 45 minutes later the tornado moved on and the weather was sunny and clear. It was announced that, although the fly-in was officially over that afternoon, Terry would call for us at 8 PM that night. The ACWs distributed a helpful list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the attendees.

The next morning we left San Antonio with fond memories of hot Texan hospitality. We [are] looking forward to seeing our hot new friends in Albuquerque this summer! —JOE REGAN

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