LSU Golden Girls of present and past reunited this past Friday, October 4, for a gala at the Old State Capitol to celebrate the legendary dance line’s 60th anniversary. The glittering celebration continued the next day as roughly 175 Golden Girls alumnae performed alongside the Golden Band from Tigerland during the LSU vs. Utah State football game halftime show. Among those 175 were five of the group’s original members who took the field for the first time in 1959.

“That was my dream growing up,” says Leslie Day, a past dancer and the anniversary gala’s chairperson, “to be a Golden Girl.”

Those founding members set a standard that would come to define the group for decades to come. Becoming the ultimate goal for dancers locally and nationally, the select few that get to take the field each fall Saturday are as close as they are talented.

“We are a very close-knit group,” says Golden Girls alum Jan Waguespack. “It’s more like a sorority that has kind of evolved over the years.”

After stepping out of their golden spotlights, former Golden Girls have achieved fulfilling lives as designers, physicians, educators, wives, mothers and countless other professions. “I’m very proud to be a Golden Girl,” says Day, “because of the accomplishments these women have made.”

Read the full story in the October issue of inRegister, on newsstands now.