Tipping Our Hats to the Big Hat Gentlemen!

An I Love Steppin Party Review:

By Tracey Bivens (Imasteppa)

The Venetian Hall in Madison Heights, MI welcomed guests from Detroit, Lansing, Flint, Toledo, Cleveland and a host of other cities Saturday night. The Big Hat Gentleman are comprised of founder Bashiri along with Bobby, Frank, Calvin, Phil, Ron, and “ain’t no stopping him” Walter Jenkins. Jenkins, who had medical challenges earlier in the year, became the poster child for perseverance in the national steppin community as he managed to attend many local and out of town functions to support other organizations as well as in the marketing of his own.  Overall, each of these gentlemen have held a strong presence in the Detroit dance community for over five years by offering an annual classy dancing affair which caters to steppers, ballroomers, boppers and line dancers.

Guests were treated to a buffet style dinner and the melodic sounds of DJ Rockin Rodney Mack.  Mack is often branded as a steppers’ DJ but he has over 25 year experience in knowing how to play a wide genre of music to accommodate the varying tastes in the Detroit dance community. One thing that I like about the BHG parties is that they make it a point to dance with all of the women at their sets. This is not a common practice by many social groups. You will find that many male escorts will get invited to parties only to dance with their particular favorites all night long but not the Big Hat Gentleman. They know that showing the women that come to their parties a good time is key.

In the house were Ohio representatives Juan Hall, Popeye, Allen Davis of DDD, Slick Vic Plotnikov, Keesha Waters, and the home team, Keesha Reeves, Drew Alexander, Jeff Clark, Sherry Gordon, Tyrone “The Godfather” Bradley, Darby Settles, Ira and Gail Blakely, Sir Charles and Elaine Ramsey, Lynne Ms. Cheesecake Batten, Rebecca “Becky” Atkinson, James Pacely, Paul Ross “The Boss,” DJ K-Mix Kirk Peterson, Stan Brooks, Brock Powers, Deborah Dixon, Bonita Gower-Williams and Rose McDaniel.

There are not very many cities that have an all-male social group whose members range from

50-75 and can boast of pulling 20-30 something year old mini skirt clad women to all of their sets. But something tells me that these gentlemen will continue to make great strides in producing a quality setting, inviting quality guests and providing everything else their big hats can hold.