Students strap on their boots for dance
June 11, 2009
By Laura Geggel
The scorching heat broke just in time for the Snoqualmie Elementary PTSA Barn Dance June 5. More than 300 students and parents filled the gymnasium and playground for good eats and lively dancing.
At the dinner tables outside, parent volunteers grilled 500 hotdogs for hungry dancers. Inside, students jumped on top of a saddle surrounded by haystacks for photo-ops. At a nearby decoration table, children personalized their photos with markers and stickers.
Many students took the barn dance theme to heart, dressing in cowboy boots and straw hats, along with bandannas from the PTSA goody bags. Some dug far into the recesses of their closets looking for Wild West gear, before finding the right props.
Second-grader Olivia Noel and Aleyna Kleinhaus dance to Cotton Eyed Joe in a circle around the Snoqualmie Elementary Gymnasium.
Fourth-grader Jake Gardner got his cowboy hat from “my dad’s office reunion.”
Second-grader Olivia Kleinhaus already had boots from her horse-riding classes.
“This, I got from The Grange,” fifth-grader Joey Clifford said of his cowboy hat. “And this (bandanna) I got from a Halloween costume.”
The Gohekes showed up in black cowboy shirts and hats, outfits purchased for country singer Kenny Chesney’s Qwest Field performance in August.
The Conklins came without costumes, and admitted country music held little interest for them.
“They’re more into Tool and AC/DC,” joked Mike Conklin about his two sons.
He grinned as his children raced around the playground, as if they were taking advantage of a recess after school hours.
“It’s fun to see all of the kids going crazy,” Conklin said.
Inside the gym, deejay Rachelle Wright of Viva Productions mixed tunes and quizzed students with trivia, awarding them with Hannah Montana CDs if they were the first to raise their names with a correct answer.
“If a trucker drives a semi, what does a farmer drive?” Wright asked. “A tractor, of course.”
Wright took a seat as parents Chad and Bonnie Woolf took to the floor to show students how to dance the Cotton Eyed Joe. After practicing their dancing skills at Author Murray Dance Studio in Bellevue, the Woolfs were ready to teach the steps.
“Right, left, back, back, back,” Chad Woolf shouted over the music as students and parents danced in a large circle. At the end, children threw their hats into the air before scrambling to catch them in time for the next dance.
“It was fun, but it was hard at the same time,” fifth-grader Rachel Hunter said.
Fifth-grader Katie Richardson had other things on her mind, mainly protecting her cowgirl hat from her friend Abby Bateman, who mischievously tried to snatch it off her head.
Parent Misty August stood on the sidelines dancing with her 9-month-old daughter Caroline as her older daughter Georgia learned the hustle.
“She’s been dancing and running around with her friends,’ August said. “It’s a good family thing.”
The night wrapped up with the hokey pokey, bunny hop and limbo.
The PTSA paid about $1,200 to put the event on, PTSA treasurer Ahn Lee Horn said. In previous family fun nights, the Snoqualmie Elementary PTSA has organized sock hops and beach parties.
Snoqualmie Elementary Principal Cori Pflug said the family fun nights were well-attended and fostered community.
“With the boundary changes, it’s nice to bring families together,” Pflug said.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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I’m……..OLIVIA!