Joan Grasty

Enjoying a special moment at the YMCA Sweethearts' Ball!

Joan Grasty

Dads and daughters doing the "Chicken"!!

The Camarillo Community Center rocked on Saturday night as 280 fathers and daughters enjoyed dining and dancing at the Camarillo Family YMCA Adventure Guides 13th Annual Sweethearts' Ball.

A red carpet welcomed the young ladies and their attentive escorts and white rose corsages awaited them at the door. They found the Community Center gaily decorated in red, pink and white balloons, streamers and hearts. While a buffet dinner of chicken, penne pasta and salad was served by DJ's Catering, a portrait photo of each family group was taken by Sun West Photography as a souvenir of this gala evening.

Soon the floor was filled with dancing couples, threesomes, and even foursomes consisting of father and daughter(s). Four-year olds in frilly party dresses to sophisticated teens in fashionable gowns filled the floor with their nattily dressed dads, dipping and twirling, jitterbugging and waltzing. Lively disc jockey Mike Zegers from Ambassadors of Sound kept the beat constant and the dancers moving. Early on he formed the crowd into an enormous circle for the hokey pokey and later led a rousing chorus of the Village People's "YMCA" a crowd favorite, needless to say!!

Under the flashing strobe lights and the twinkling disco ball, dads and their dates slow danced to "Let me Call You Sweetheart" and the appropriate "Daddy's Little Girl". Quicker beats led to the Cha Cha and the popular La Bamba. The dance floor was crowded and hopping the whole evening, thinning only slightly when the pink and white sweetheart frosted cake was served for dessert.

Toward evening's end, with tuxedo and suit jackets shed, dads danced one last dance with their sweethearts to "Goodnight Ladies". As the pooped pops and the delighted daughters filed their way out, each young lady received a pink and white stuffed Valentine animal as a favor. While thanking the YMCA staff at the door, one tired dad with two young daughters was heard to say "and tomorrow we have to go to Disneyland!"

The Camarillo Family YMCA is located at 3111 Village at the Park Drive in Camarillo. For information about future events or membership, please call (805)484-0423 or visit www.ciymca.org.