Annual daddy-daughter dance cuts a rug

MONTROSE — On Feb. 7, the VFW in Montrose was decorated wall to wall with pretty young ladies in stunning, colorful dresses, accompanied by handsome fathers and grandfathers in suits or jeans and shirts and ties for the Ties and Tiaras or Father-Daughter Dance.
The first shift of the dance ran from 1 to 3 p.m., featuring 258 Kindergarten through Second graders. Followed by the second shift which ran from 4 to 6 p.m. and hosted third through sixth graders.
Roughly 500 people turned out for the annual event sponsored by Montrose Chamber of Commerce, each year more magical than the last. It has become so popular that it had to be split into two sections to accommodate the children. The hour in between is used for the hard-working Chamber of Commerce volunteers to pick up from the first group and set up a nice table of fruits, vegetables, dips and crackers, decorated cupcakes, pink punch and more for the afternoon snacks. The second wave clearly showed their love of dancing between girls and fathers alike.
Music was provided by “Momma Bullmoose” and from the first group’s favorite “Baby Shark.” The entire place was filled with Baby Shark arms and everyone was dancing and singing “Baby Shark do-do-dodado!”
The second wave consisted of young ladies bouncing around with “Who Let the Dogs Out.”
Some fathers carefully slow danced with little ones in their arms. They weren’t quite sure what was going on, but wanted to be involved. Some of the girls wore prom dresses. Many of the girls’ hair was done curly, some of the buns with ringlets, some girls just had ringlets and some wore the Tiaras. Many fathers were so dance savvy that they knew the steps and lyrics to the “APT” and other popular songs. You could see some of these dads and young ladies had danced together before, singing right along with the girls.
The slow dance was quiet whether they were in their dad’s arms or holding hands in regular slow dance fashion. The festive table cloth was adorned with red and white hearts, matching paper plates with which to put some of the food.
Several circles of girls danced together, to the pride of their fathers watching and applauding. The smiles on faces were not just limited to the little ladies, there were some proud dads beaming throughout the entire afternoon. When it was all said and done, everyone was surely in for a good night’s sleep after so much partying.