The more things change, the more stays the same! Old Little Rock Bop Club newsletters tell of the urge to dance. For more history, see the print edition of the LRBC May-June 2002 newsletter.

Excerpts from Bop in the Rock Number 1, August 1992
When this newsletter was mailed to prospective members, the Little Rock Bop Club did not yet exist. Founding president Jim Miller explained the organizers’ efforts and intentions to start a club — and nicely summed up our earliest history.

We like to Bop! For several weeks, we have been collecting names, addresses and phone numbers from bop-starved people interested in forming a bop dance club in Little Rock. I’m sure you thought this whole idea was just a clever scheme to get girls’ phone numbers. Well, it works! We’ve got girls and guys interested (about 50/50). Now counting 200 of us and still growing ... the Little Rock Bop Club is a fact. The organizers and founders hereby issue the first newsletter. We hope it will give you a good idea of what the bop club is all about.

My name is Jim Miller. I moved here a year ago from Dallas, Texas, where there are a bunch of social dance clubs dedicated to all types of dance. Arriving in Little Rock, I started asking about dance clubs in the area. People would answer, “Well, there’s BJ’s and Bobbisox,” thinking I was looking for a nightclub. BJ’s has an associated dance club called the “Honky Tonkers” and they are very active in country & western dance.
As far as the bop, swing, push or jitterbug dancers, there is no organized social club in Little Rock.

Someone mentioned that on the second Sunday of every month there was this thing called the “Pig & Whistle” at Dad’s Place in North Little Rock. It seemed appropriate that the name had a Pig in it, seeing as how this is Hog country. But what about the Whistle? Well, it was at my first Pig & Whistle that I saw all these crazy boppers. It was unbelievable! Dad’s Place had always seemed a little dead to me ... but all of a sudden, in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, during football and deer season, this place was bopping! The joint was jumping! Unfortunately, the party only lasted from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., then it was over for the month.

Several people at Pig & Whistle told me that there had been an attempt to start a bop club in Little Rock, but for some reason it never happened. That’s when we started collecting each other’s names and addresses. We were interested people, wanting to form a dance club. We grabbed napkins, business cards, anything. Phone calls flew and the interest was unbelievable.

Membership dues will be $12 for six months or $24 annually, and renew each Sept. 1 and March 1. Because this is a startup club we need a lot of full-year members on this first membership drive, to help capitalize the club and pay for startup costs such as purchasing records, printing newsletters, etc.

Membership entitles you to a $2 entrance fee for club parties instead of $4 for non-members, discount dance lessons, and a newsletter which will give you a schedule of events.

Our dance parties will be held on the fourth Saturday each month. This adds up to a party every other week, with Pig & Whistle on the second Sunday and Little Rock Bop Club on the fourth Saturday. Also, we’ll have a “dance night out” each week at various other clubs.

Get involved with the club, participate, and if you have an interest in helping get organized, or if you have suggestions, please contact one of the officers listed elsewhere in your newsletter or call me.

Forever Bopping,
Jim Miller

First Monthly Board Meeting will be Monday, August 10, at Freida’s apartment. At this meeting the original officers will meet and form the structure of the club.

LRBC 10th Anniversary Party, June 29, 2002

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10 Weeks & Counting, April 24-June 26, 2002

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