The leadership of SAIL (Seniors Access for Independent Living) and Mark Humphries and his big dance band got together on Sat. Nov. 4 and held a very successful WW2 themed dance at Tundra Oil and Gas Place in Virden.
Humphries wanted to have a dance event featuring the music of the 40s era and SAIL wanted to have a fundraiser to help in its efforts to provide services to the seniors in the Elkhorn, Virden and Oak Lake area.
The result was a dance that attracted over 200 people from all over the Westman and Eastsask area, who came despite snowy road conditions.
The hall was well decorated with military and domestic artifacts from the war period and the famed Virden Costume Closet was able to help many with 40s era clothing.
A dance contest was held, complete with ID numbers on the contestants’ backs and after a few rounds of judging the top three were picked for their style and stamina as the dance went for about ten minutes.
During the evening the band played some of the classics of the war era such as the Glen Miller hits In the Mood, String of Pearls and Chattanooga Choo Choo. They also played one of the great waltzes of all time, Sentimental Journey.
Leona Joseph, one of the organizers of the evening, said that one of the great things about the event was the intergenerational crowd having a lot of fun.
During the evening two Rosie the Riveter look-a-likes were very active in adding to the success: sisters Christine Cross and Joanne Whyte arrived complete with WW2 factory style headbands.
Joseph said it was an excellent evening that showed great support for SAIL and its services and programs in the Oak Lake, Virden and Elkhorn areas. The turnout, costumes, decorations, music by the big band, Humphries’ unique sense of humor and Sandra Unger’s vocals made it a fun and classy evening.
