Boot Scootin’ Boogie

“We’re country, and until I close my doors, we’ll stay country,” says Vivian Spangler, owner of Western Connection, one of the few unadulterated honky-tonks left this side of Gilley’s.

Remember that Texas club, made famous in the movie “Urban Cowboy”? That 1980 film spurred a popularity surge in country music and dance bested only by the likes of Billy Ray Cyrus, whose “Achy Breaky Heart” lured even more city folk to the line-dance floor in the early- to mid-’90s.

The glory days of denim and diamonds have died, however. Scores of clubs capitalizing on the Electric Slide slid right out of business, and many that survived changed formats or cater to country lovers only two or three nights a week. Salsa, swing, even hip-hop have filled the gaps. At the Country Rock Cafe in Lake Forest, for instance, dancers bailan to rock en espanol beneath a mirrored saddle-cum-disco ball every Saturday.

But Western Connection in San Dimas has stayed true. Even if the crowds are down, cowboy-hatted regulars still two-step to classics by Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard and George Jones--music that the trendier outlets never played--and satisfy their craving up to six nights a week.

On a recent Friday night, country showed its most chivalrous side as couples circled the unflashy club’s sprawling, 2,500-square-foot dance floor for a cozy “Cowboy Cha Cha.”

Lights low, broomstick skirts awhirl, partners started out shoulder to shoulder, hands clasped, in a “cuddle” position. A few steps forward, a lunge, then he spun her out for a twirl. As she curtsied to a finish, he dropped to his knee, looked up, and pulled his hat to his heart.

Sigh. Shania Twain can keep her dominatrix look.

Spangler and her husband of 44 years, Bernard, ran a rubber band business before opening the club a decade ago. Basically a big square room, its focus clearly is the dance floor and large proscenium stage at the end opposite the entrance.

Local country bands, such as the veteran Pacific Rider, take the stage nightly, playing plenty of newer covers and some originals, not just the oldies. Because the floor’s so big, it can simultaneously accommodate high-kicking line dancers, who Tush-Push in the middle, and couples, who two-step or waltz around them.

A long bar stretches across the club’s other end, and tables laden with beer bottles crowd its mid-section. Gals and guys wearing skin-tight Wranglers and beepers (hey, it is still the ‘90s) mingle and flirt beside a lone pool table.

The simple decor consists of an American and a Texan flag flanking the stage, and wooden wheels and worn saddles hung here and there. A couple of beer signs dot the walls between autographed photos of singers, such as Charlie Daniels, many of them posing with Spangler.

She says proudly that Wynonna, with her little sister actress Ashley Judd, Brooks and Dunn and other superstars occasionally drop in to the club--which Spangler has no intention of closing--just to party. But that’s not what draws the regulars, most of them over 30.

Arcadia attorney Sterling Myers, who came with his secretary, Jo Phillips, said it’s the live music and 21-and-over policy. Younger country hounds tend to over-imbibe, get rowdy and ignore dance-floor etiquette, said Myers, 51, referring to the understanding that fast two-steppers stay to the outside to cut down on “traffic” accidents.

Amen, said Phillips, 49, with a self-deprecating chuckle. “It’s an older crowd, and I’m old.”

BE THERE

Western Connection, 657 W. Arrow Highway, San Dimas. Tuesday to Sunday, 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Nightly lessons, 7-8:30 p.m., free with admission. Live bands nightly. $3-$5. 21 and over. (909) 592-2211.