Back to the Future

Well, we have another party under our belts and by all accounts it was a great party.
The theme was a 50's Sock Hop. The challenge was getting and keeping everyone involved. A DJ (father of the 2nd counselor in the bishopric) who had a great collection of 50's rock and roll dance tunes was the main attraction and center of attention for those who wanted to dance or listen to "old fashioned" music. As Carolyn pointed out to me, most of the rock and roll music of that era is easy to dance to. In fact it almost begs you to dance. So the young people and the younger old people got up on the dance floor. In addition to the 50's music, the DJ also used involvement songs like "Do the Hokey Pokey", "Y-M-C-A", "Hand Jive", "Boot Scootin' Boogey", etc.


But the music and dancing were only part of the fun. On the other end of the cultural hall a soda fountain was set up to serve root beer floats and a popcorn man handed out small bags of popcorn to anyone who dropped by. Tables were set up so that about half the crowd (mostly the older ones and ones with babies) could sit, listen and watch. At each of the tables were old time toys such as a Slinky, a Yo-Yo, an elastic band paddle ball, or a board game like Sorry.


Each table also sported a centerpiece "float" made from fresh flowers.

One of the tables even had my old time pinball machine that is right out of the 50's.




Also in the fountain area was a slide show consisting of several ward members and how they looked in the 50's, some typical 50's models of Fords and Chevys, and even a couple of celebrities of that era.


We had planned it as a contest but it turned out more to be a good conversation piece.


On the periphery of the hall we had backdrops for people to take pictures in front of or behind.








There was also a hopscotch layout for the grandmothers to show they still had it. We wanted to set up a marble ring but the thought of all those marbles on the floor told us that wasn't a really good idea. There were also hula hoops and jump ropes for self entertainment or impromptu contests. Carolyn even conducted a bubble gum blowing contest. The "winners" had bubbles smaller than a volleyball, larger than a softball.



I spent my whole time looking at popcorn, popcorn, and more popcorn. I really didn't mind as my legs were acting up on me so I wasn't up for much walking. And I've had an interest in actually using a popcorn machine like this one where you popped a cup of popcorn in a batch and they recommend doing at least 5 batches in a row. That puts out a lot of popcorn. (By the way, if you want to frustrate someone, use this popcorn picture for their wallpaper or screensaver.)

One of the nice things about the decorations, centerpieces, and even announcement posters can be used by another ward. The DJ and his wife are planning a 50's party in their ward so we won't have to worry about storing everything.

In conclusion, I think this would have been a party I would have enjoyed even if I hadn't be so involved with putting it on.