The 24th annual Dad & Me Dance last week celebrated a long-standing tradition for fathers to honour their young daughters with music, dancing, food and fun. Those involved agreed that it was a gift to witness how happy everyone was to gather after a two-year pause from meeting in person.
The Rotary Club of the Sunshine Coast has always regarded the dance as a special event for this community to celebrate the strength, creativity and potential of young girls between the ages and five and 12. The Dad & Me Dance tradition started in 1999 with 50 people and now it sells out at a capacity crowd of 400 participants,” said Janet Stevens, secretary for the Rotary Club. “What began as a community event has become a significant fundraiser for the Rotary. It now supports numerous local and international projects but mainly it assists the Rotary effort to eradicate polio.”
“We are now beginning to see daughters whose mothers had attended when they were children,” said Stevens. She noted that mothers are now happy that they have this shared tradition with their daughters. “We see a variety of creative expression in the families who attend,” Stevens added. “Some come in prom-style dresses they got for Christmas specifically for the dance and some dads have even worn tuxedos. We’ve also seen girls wearing gumboots and tutus.”
In addition to the awesome music conscientiously played by VideoMax Dance, families really enjoyed the chance to play at a photobooth provided by Dazi Creative Photobooth & DJ Rentals. Rotary members and volunteers barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs and served a terrific assortment of meats, veggies and cheese trays. Each girl was given a goodie bag which was geared to their age group full of gifts like jewelry, gems, hats and chocolates, contributed by merchants in the local community. “It was huge community effort,” said Stevens, “and we’re always appreciative of the generosity of the sponsors and numerous volunteers. They all work very hard to make this event so special.”
There were six prize packages compiled from numerous merchant donations and one 50/50 draw from the ticket sales.
The prize winners include:
50/50 Draw – Alex Myciak with his daughter, Anastasia
Crab Trap Package – Dean Miller with his daughter, Nicola
Rose Bath Gift Pack – Mer Roberts with his daughter, Joni
Animal Gift Basket – Cheney Platt with his daughter, Sophia
Elephant Stuffy Package – Darin Brose with his daughter, Abby
Bear Stuffy Package – Malan Fraszczak with his daughter, Anahi
To see more about the dance, go to www.rotarysunshinecoast.com or visit coastreporter.net.
