Bootlegger Belles and Beaus is a Tampa Bay Gasparilla Parade Krewe based off a famous female bootlegger (Gertrude Lythgoe) who lived in the Bahamas during prohibition with a legal liquor license and sold rum to ships off the Florida coast. But we call her by her bootlegger name, Grace, the Bahama Queen. She was such an integral part of Florida history, and was described as a “truly a wonderful per
sonality, a woman of cultivated tastes, who can talk on books and who travels with the best music in her trunks, and shows such artistic taste in dress.”
So, our Troupe has a "speakeasy" theme, with a strong female leadership base. The beaus wear 1920's style suits with vests and fedora hats. The ladies are dressed in flapper attire in either red, black, silver or gold with fish net hose, feather head adornment and dance shoes. The costumes are relatively cheap at round $30 for women and $45 for men. Individual dues ($300) are due October 1st each year. If you want to learn how to dance the Charleston, we host an annual Bootlegger Ball in March each year to showcase our dancing talent and to raise funds for our primary charity, Valor Service Dogs. Join us every third Wednesday of the month at Ciro's Speakeasy for our monthly social where we dine on gourmet apps and sip on vintage cocktails. Our organization is a 501c3 non profit that primarily supports service animals charities that help our service men and women. We volunteer our time for different beneficiaries throughout the year serving Tampa Bay and the military and we also collect bones, leashes and Cuz balls or cash at each social or business meeting to donate to our primary service animal charity, Valor Service Dogs.
