2008 Cupid's Ball dances into memory

A conga line of young girls with up ’dos and fancy dresses snaked through the Smith-Cotton High School cafeteria Saturday night beneath butterflies and white lights.

Their dates — fathers, grandfathers or father figures — stood around in suits talking with each other, joined in the dancing, waited in line for photographs or followed their little ones through the crowd.

This was the scene at the 11th annual Cupid’s Ball, a father-daughter dance sponsored by the Women’s Service League. It’s the hottest ticket in town for girls younger than 12.

The organization sold 340 tickets in a few hours in January. Adam Hendricks said he’s tried for three years to get tickets. He got them this year just in time for his daughter, Madison, 12, to attend her first, and last, Cupid’s Ball.

Madison said she liked dressing up, getting her hair done and going out to dinner.

“It’s just time for me and my dad,” she said. “It’s fun.”

Haley Gleason, 12, was also enjoying her last ball. She and father, Bill, have attended for five years.

“She’s growing up too fast, I know that,” Mr. Gleason said. “We’ve had a lot of good years with it.”

Julie Childers, president of the Women’s Service League, said “there’s nothing like this in Sedalia,” when talking about the event’s popularity.

In years past, the ball started with a dinner. This year, organizers cut the meal and added dance instruction and gifts for the children. Fathers said they liked the change because it gave the girls more room to dance.

The Country Club, like several other businesses, catered to the father-daughter crowd by serving an early dinner at 5 p.m. The Ivy Cottage took 60 reservations for couples attending the dance.

Daughters posed for photographs with their fathers in front of the fireplace at the Country Club. Fathers helped each other with boutonnieres while handing out wrist corsages to their little girls.

Six girls sipped on pink Shirley Temples as they awaited their dinner at the club. They all attend Sacred Heart School and most live in the same neighborhood. It was the first Cupid’s Ball for one couple at the table — J.R. Volcko and his daughter Zoe, 7.

“We’re going to have a good time, I think,” Volcko said. “She got real excited when she got her hair done. ... (We’ve heard) stories about past times and how much fun they’ve had before. We thought we’d give it a shot.”

At the salon, Zoe had her make up done and fingernails painted red to match her polka dotted dress. Zoe wasn’t sure how she wanted her hair so, “we had to look at pictures in a book,” she said.

Zoe, with the help of her mother, picked out her dress on a special trip to the mall. “I like my dress because it sparkles,” she said.

Although mothers were scarce, Robyn Wadley snapped pictures of her daughter, Laura, and husband, Jeff, before dinner. All three of the Wadleys’ daughters have attended the ball over the past 10 years.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Mrs. Wadley said. “The girls are so excited about getting ready, meeting up with their friends and picking out the dress, of course, is a big deal. ... (The dance) is as important to the dads as it is the daughters, I think.”

The young girls and their dates lined up for professional photographs at the dance. Girls visited two stations, one to have their arm or face painted and another to make a butterfly craft from magazines and newspapers.

Dave Wilt watched as his daughter, Blaise, 5, received a painted butterfly on her arm.

“Nothing on the face until after pictures,” Wilt said.

This was the second year the pair attended the dance.

“We went last year and had a good time,” he said. “She ruined my shoes by stomping on my feet so much.”

snail@sedaliademocrat.com