AYER — Every year, the Page Hilltop PTO puts together a fall family dance in order to bring the school’s community together for a fun event. There is always a creative theme — past themes have included sports, a luau and a square dance.
This year, dance coordinator Sarah Gibbons went with a sock hop dance. Flyers and posters with instructions to dust off poodle skirts and saddle shoes, went home with students and decorated the school’s hallways. It was announced that the ‘50s were coming back to Page Hilltop.
The night of the hop, Nov.18, families packed into the Ayer High School cafeteria dressed in rolled up jeans, bobby socks, poodle skirts and letterman sweaters. The kindergarten through fourth-graders, along with younger and older siblings, danced the night away with their parents.
“It was awesome,” first-grader Danielle Renaud said.
“I really liked the chicken dance,” another first-grader, Kate Blood, commented.
The evening also allowed for parents to come together and socialize while their whole families had a great time. Coordinator Sarah Gibbons said that she was very happy with the turnout and was glad that it seemed like everyone was having a fun time.
The night found many parents singing along to old favorites like the songs from the movie “Grease” and Chubby Checker’s “Twist.” The children did the limbo, the hokey pokey and the cha-cha slide. Families also had the opportunity to get a professional photo taken to commemorate their sock hop experience.
Families were also asked to bring canned goods to donate to Loaves & Fishes when they came to the dance. Many generous donations were made and the Kidder family carted it all out to their car to deliver to the food pantry.
The Ayer Education Foundation also had a presence at the dance, introducing their new GROWS program. Representative Jackie Butler set up a display and was able to answer any questions that parents had.
At the end of the night, there were many happy, exhausted children. Parents were thankful for an economical family night out and the PTO was thrilled by the turnout and the amount of fun that was had.
“We are so glad that people had a good time tonight and we look forward to another great turnout on Dec. 2 for our Madagascar family movie night,” said PTO Co-Chair John Arrigo.
