Back on the dance floor after 40 years or so
CODY SOSSAMON Publisher
I did something Saturday night I haven't done in 40 years.

Cody Sossamon (cody@gaffneyledger.com) is publisher of The Gaffney Ledger.

I went to the L'Etoile dance. And I danced.

Me and about 350 high school students plus 30 or so parents.

Prior to the DJ cranking up the dance (?) music, the members of the club were presented so a bunch of other family members were in attendance but left shortly after and before the music (?) started.

I was impressed by several things.

The Broad River Electric auditorium (is that what they call it?) had been transformed into a winter wonderland by L'Etoile club members and their parents. Mostly their parents, I suspect.

The facility itself is HUGE and very nice. Less than half of the facility was used and with about 400 people in that space there was still plenty of room. It can accommodate an endless variety of activities. Cherokee County is fortunate that the utility makes it available for various events.

Of course, for this particular party, the 350 students crowded together in one area of the dance floor, so they didn't take up much space. The dancing teens do in today's time doesn't take much room. They stand real close and just kind of bounce into one another to the same ol' thudthud thud beat of whatever song happens to be playing.

When the rare slow song is played, they spread out just a bit, but don't move their feet any more than they do when fast dancing. Watching from afar it looked like a bunch of people standing on the deck of a rocking boat.

Immediately after the presentation of the club members, the girls danced with their escorts (the rocking boat effect). Then, the dads were invited to join their daughters on the dance floor, my favorite part of the entire evening.

Dancing the last dance of the night with my wife ranks right up there, but all dads know there's something special about dancing with their daughter.

My dancing style involves a bit more movement than daughter Abbie expected and she kept whispering to me not to run into the other couples.

Another thing that was very noticeable, if not impressive, was how quickly all those fancy high-heeled shoes were discarded after the dancing started.

Every girl there must have been barefoot before the evening was over. If the others were like mine, they spent hours searching for the perfect shoes to go with that perfect dress. Don't girls know that guys don't pay any attention to shoes?

I've mentioned that to my wife on several occasions and her answer is always the same: "Girls do."

Shoot, with those long dresses they were wearing, even the other girls couldn't see the shoes.

I know. I know. It's a girl thing and me being a male, I wouldn't understand.

The most impressive thing of the evening was the behavior of the young adults.

Even though their dancing style was not exactly material for 'Dancing with the Stars,' I can honestly say they all behaved like ladies and gentlemen.

It might come as a shock to a lot of you, but this was not a lily-white affair. White teens and black teens at the same party and not a problem to be seen. Refreshing. Maybe there is hope that one day we can all get along, regardless of race, creed or religion.

I must confess that I did not spend every minute inside the building 'chaperoning.' You see, there was this NFLplayoff game on that night so I borrowed Abbie's TV that has a car power adapter and watched most of the second half while in the comfort of the reclined front seat of my wife's big SUV. It was almost as comfortable as the recliner in my bedroom.

The outcome of that game, though, has already faded from my memory but that dance with my daughter never will.