Dear Fellow Boots N Blisterer,

As The Boots N Blisters Chronicle has been out of circulation, due to a major technical hitch, Robbie and I thought we ought to drop you a line to check that you are all well, and let you know what we’ve been up to (if you’ve not been around), or remind you if you were…and let you know what’s coming up soon whether you like it or not!

What's Happened

2002 got off to a great start with ‘The Late, Late New Years Party’. We were entertained by the ever popular,Marietta Station. Copious amounts of alcohol consumed by some (not mentioning any names), and huge fun had by all. The band played a fine two sets of pure country music, and we still managed to get in our ‘Aulde Lang Sine’. From the many comments since in Marietta Station’s favour, I think there will be no doubt that they will be on our list of most wanted bands for 2003.

Before we could say ‘Lightning Polka’ January became February and Valentines Day hit us. Unfortunately for us, and the smooth running of the club (including the Boots N Blisters Chronicle), my computer crashed before cupid managed to cast his bow!…But with a new computer up & running and all the immediate essentials re-done Robbie & I were off to Sunny Sussex. This year, with Valentines day falling on a Thursday, our day of rest, and already being in Eastbourne to prepare for Boots N Blisters’ 3rd Big Break~The Alternative Valentines Weekend, I had images of Robbie & I spending a romantic night at The Cumberland, with candle lit dinner for two, and soft piano music tinkling in the background. (Not entirely from my imagination…that is what the hotel had planned as well!). Not a hope in hell…too much to do!!! That’s unless you consider McDonalds in the car, near the pier… which is kind of romantic, if you’re approaching the situation from an entirely different angle! Possibly that of a vagrant! All the hard work and preparation paid off when the weekend ran entirely to plan, with no hitches, apart from the beauty of the newly decorated outside of the hotel being masked by the painters scaffolding, it was supposed to be down, but by way of an apology, everybody was given a drink at the bar on the house. The weather was fantastic…once again! Mid February and members were going out for a stroll in the sunshine in T Shirts! Vegas-Rob Childs & Bob Keeley (nee Rodeo Radio, nee Nadine Somers Band), were brilliant, and considering that they had only been playing as a duo for two weeks, were remarkable! -Can’t wait to see what they are doing when we see them at Boots N Blisters later in the year. Friday Nights party finished around 4ish, and Saturday night just rolled into Sunday!! I believe great fun was had by all, I certainly enjoyed myself~Early hours of Sunday morning, we even had a group dancing in the Ballroom vertically, since they were apparently too tired to stand. That’s right, lying down in rows, dancing…maybe we have the new dance craze LYING DANCING!! Thanks to everyone who came along and made the atmosphere so wonderful, it’s all you guys that make it all worthwhile. The party spirit started on Friday evening and carried all the way through to the last moment, with our farewell lunch and presentations. Thanks also to everyone who clubbed together to buy Robbie and I such extravagant gifts, we honestly don’t need them~next time just come along and enjoy yourselves the same, and that is all we want, we enjoy ourselves so much seeing your response that we don’t need anything more. OK?!

We’re doing it all again in September, that’s 27th-29th September to be precise. This time we have the musically brilliant, totally crazy, highly acclaimed festival band, ‘Rebel Yell’. It promises to be a brilliant weekend, we’ve done all the organisation, now all we need is you and if it’s as good as any of the three that have gone before, we’ll be happy. We have been looking for another resort to hold a Boots N Blisters Big Break, so that we can alternate between the two venues, but as yet have found nothing to compare to The Cumberland, either, in price or quality- if you have any suggestions, please let us know, - if you’d rather we stuck to two a year at The Cumberland, again let us know. Remember the Cumberland is undergoing a long-term full-scale renovation, and will be improving all the time. It’s your weekend, as long as you want us to do it, we will.

I ventured off to Blackpool for the Linedancer Magazine Crystal Boot Awards a week later, leaving Robbie to hold the fort. As you’ll know, I had been nominated for UK Instructor and Female Personality, though goodness knows why, and Rob, for the first, and definitely not the last time was nominated for Male Personality! Whoever of you that did the nominating can’t have seen Robbie on a Saturday morning after a Guinness overloaded Boots N Blisters Party Night! Not too surprisingly neither of us won, and, as all the best losers say…’it’s the nominations that count’. Well they say something like that. As far as the ‘Club Of The Year’ award goes, we were short listed to the final six, (apparently the only London club ever to have been nominated) had an unannounced visit to our club by a panel of judges, and fortunately came very close…. but…no, not close enough to win! But as the losers always say. No I won’t go into all that again, people might think I’m bitter and twisted! On a serious note, Robbie and I would like to thank all of you who nominated and voted for us, the fact that you felt Boots N Blisters deserved to win Club Of The Year means more to us than you will ever know.

On 1st March we presented ‘Holy Smoke’, the band formerly known as 100% Proof (minus Paul, the drummer) Bryn Evans has a terrific voice, and, on this occasion, sporting a Boots N Blisters T Shirt (which incidentally he says is his most favourite T Shirt ever!) fronts a great band, that kept both the dancers and listeners alike entertained. Having travelled all the way from Exeter, they made a point of saying how much they had enjoyed the gig, and what a great bunch you are.

On March 15th we held a RED NOSE ‘FUN’DRAISER, with all proceeds going to comic relief. Me being the buffoon that I am, assumed that there was a Red Nose Day every year-never having noticed that there’s not! So I booked it in our diary well in advance, only to discover that it wasn’t happening this year…. maybe not for everyone else…but we decided to go ahead anyway! Everyone wore red, how lovely that looks, the whole room just feels more cheerful & full of colour, rather than the line dancer-mono-tone black we all seem to have taken to. We had a great time, pure fun, and raised £374!!

April 12th brought The Haleys back down from North Yorkshire for the fourth time at Boots N Blisters. We temporarily went into mourning last year after the band made the decision that London was too far to be travelling to gigs now that Brian and Becky have a family. Luckily, and thanks largely to you guys, they decided to make an exception for us, and became, as far as we know, the only club South of Watford to have presented The Haleys this year. A thoroughly good time was had by all, in fact the evening had a very special chemistry that’s difficult to put into words, the people, the atmosphere, the je n’ sais quoi! If we could bottle it we’d probably be millionaires! Apparently The band have never seen so many smiley places in one place, and Jo Ann asked me to pass on a message, ‘Keep on smiling you’re great!’ Once again a full house. Thank you Boots N Blisters.

A PAT ON THE BACK For a dear family friend of mine Kevin Corrigan who did the pilgrimage, The Santiago De Compostella - about 500 miles across Spain on foot (at the tender age of 72!)To raise funds for the Sue Rider charity, and in memory of two great friends who died in 2000 of cancer. He called his pilgrimage quite aptly, ‘Boots & Blisters’, and has written an article on it which I will post on our website soon, and make available to visitors of the club. As well as collecting many other sponsors, we collected £225 from our members. So pat on the back to you too.

A PAT ON THE SOON TO BE FLAT STOMACH, of Stuart Spink, who has undertaken to shed weight in aid of St Christopher’s Hospice. He is aiming to loose 44lbs by the middle of July, and we are collecting sponsors right now. So if you haven’t sponsored him yet, please do…so far he has lost 16lbs, and we have collected over £300 pledges.

COMING SOON

Which eventually leads me to what will soon be happening.

Friday 10th May is one of the highlights of our calendar. We are extremely proud to welcome back to Boots N Blisters, THE BUNCH, with their unique form of wit and damned good Rockin’ country. Another act that rarely ventures south, bringing a quality of musicianship that is hard to beat. We had thought that this would be one of the last gigs before The Bunch split, but the great news here is that they have decided to stay together and keep on Rockin’! Keep your ears open for another gig coming to one of our venues soon. The Bunch will be playing at our Brockley venue in May. Click on ‘St Cyprians’ on Tuition Page of website for map & Ariel view

Later in May~May 31st to be precise, we have another, entirely different, and completely unique do. In commemoration of Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee, we will be holding a Jubilee Party at Dulwich. Click on ‘St Thomas Mores’ on Tuition Page of website for map & Ariel view. Usually if we have a fancy dress code we say its optional, but this time it is essential…. hang on don’t switch off now…don’t panic, read on. It can be as simple or extravagant as you want, i.e. if you don’t fancy going the whole hog, you could wear something red, something white, and something else blue. Or if that’s too much, you could maybe wear a union jack pin. Alternatively for those more extrovert parties, you could maybe come along as Queen Elizabeth in her full regalia…or how about Queen Victoria, someone from the coronation era, or something more obscure. You see its down to you…as long as it fits the theme, ‘Jubilee’! There will be prizes for the best and most original costumes, there’ll also be a ‘Jubilee Tea’, and a Jubilee raffle, there will also be Line dancing til you drop, though a little birdie tells me that there may well be a few surprises thrown in for fun!…psst.. I know careless talk costs lives, but do you remember, ‘The Lambeth Walk’? Say no more! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink! I Promise you it’s going to be loads of fun, so if you’re available, do come!

On 7th June we will be presenting for the first time the highly acclaimed Country Music Line dance Act, Glenn Rogers Experience. Be sure to wear your comfy shoes, as you will be on your feet all night guaranteed. Another popular act, with tickets selling fast!

And you probably won’t need reminding, but on 28th June, it’s the most important date in the Boots N Blisters Calendar, Boots N Blisters’ 6th Birthday Party. It’s amazing, but yes…6 years!! As usual there will be a four course Champagne Buffet, and dancing, dancing, dancing! Tickets are £12, and will be on sale soon.