Bow
     Babes on Wheels
      Wow
                   Wings or Whatever
             Girls

Linda Keenon, wife of our national director, was “in like flint” and they asked for the blessing of our National Director, Bruce Keenon. He told them to get their act together and they’d be allowed to ride at the following year’s Gold Rush in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The three of them went on to invite Janet Mays from Illinois, Marilyn Smithpeters from Illinois, Barb Stuckey from Michigan, and Gay Heckel from Michigan. Chrysa Keenon, then 6 years old, was the youngest member of the drill team. They named themselves BOW WOW GIRLS Drill Team…BOW WOW for Babes on Wheels, Wings or Whatever.

Kathe took the task as drill team captain. Putting together drills was a monumental task since logistically there was no way they could get together to practice. Kathe asked for help from one of the Great Lakes Drill Team members (Terry Hammond from Michigan) but was then too hard-headed to accept his suggestions. Thankfully, they remain friends.

Gold Rush time arrived and so did the new drill team all dressed in matching black jeans and white shirts. The BOW WOW Girls have ridden each Gold Rush since and are now outfitted in matching uniforms and helmets. Members now include the original team with the exception of Gay Heckel, and the addition of Cindy Warn from Michigan and Debbie Deskins from Tennessee. They pride themselves on developing new routines each year to accommodate street conditions.

Kathe is half the team of National Rider Education Directors and sees to it that safety is foremost in their ride and attire. They enjoy the help and support of the “Bow Wow Boys”, their husbands in pink T-shirts who are right there in the lots and streets with them when they practice and perform. The BOW WOW Girls are much more than a drill team…they’ve evolved into a sisterhood of ladies who highly respect one another and what they do as a team."