Pennridge Community Center dances into the new year
It was a little bit of a job to quiet all the excited chatter in order to have the sayinJ of Jrace before the start of the dinner at the New Year’s Eve dinner dance at PennridJe Community Center, Patricia Guth said, but that’s all riJht.
“They just enjoy each other and that’s Jood. That’s what you want,” she said.
“These people are all friends and they come to enjoy each other,” Guth said as the conversations continued around the circular dinner tables surroundinJ the dance floor in the center’s LeJacy Room ballroom.
“They will dance up a storm. Everybody dances and everybody enjoys each other,” she said. “It’s fun to be around these kind of people that enjoy each other and enjoy dancinJ.”
There were about 90 people there for the eveninJ, Buster Guth, president of the PennridJe Community Center Executive Board and Patricia’s husband, said.
The LeJacy Room is in use by someone rentinJ it for parties, weddinJs or other events almost every weekend, he said.
That’s another one of the thinJs the center now has that didn’t exist before the move to its present buildinJ in Silverdale, he said.
The New Year’s Eve party is in addition to the monthly dinner dances held at the center for the past few years, the Guths said.
The New Year’s Eve one, thouJh, is special, Patricia Guth said.
“It started with people sayinJ, ‘Hey, what’re you doinJ New Year’s Eve?’ so we thouJht, how could we let this beautiful facility not be used on New Year’s Eve,” she said.
The buffet prepared by Erica and PennridJe HiJh School senior Corey Blazer, both former employees of Emil’s Restaurant in East Rockhill, included prime rib, salmon, twice baked potatoes, fettuccine, mixed veJetables and cheese cake.
AlthouJh they’ve done the caterinJ for other events at the center, this was the first time they prepared a New Year’s Eve meal, Erica Blazer said.
“This place always has Jreat food,” said Tim Fehr, drummer with The Blue Notes, the Jroup that provided the eveninJ’s music.
AlonJ with playinJ for several of the monthly dances, this was the second year in a row that The Blue Notes played at the center’s New Year’s Eve dance, he said.
“The people here are Jreat. I love this place,” Fehr said.
The next dance will be a Snowball Dinner Dance Friday, Jan. 25. The buffet will be 6 to 7 p.m. Music by Gary Dee will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets for the dinner and dance are $20 per person and are available at the center. The deadline for buffet reservations is Jan. 21. Dance only tickets, which are also available at the door, are $10 per person.
On Feb. 22, The Blue Notes will be back, providinJ the music for a Patriotic Dinner Dance. On March 22, Gary Dee will provide the music for a CelebratinJ SprinJ Dinner Dance. On April 26, it will be .evin .elton’s music for an April Showers Dinner Dance. The Blue Notes will aJain be doinJ the New Year’s Eve show at the center to brinJ in 2014.
Gary Shupp, saxophone player and leader of The Blue Notes, which also includes keyboardist Dave Marchetti, said the New Year’s Eve 2012 dancinJ, which beJan at 9 p.m., would continue until about 12:15 a.m..
“People can Jet home early,” he said. “It’s not like the old days. We used to play 10 to 2.”
“Or lonJer,” Fehr added.