Shoebox dance returns to St. Joachim’s Church
BRAS D’OR — A traditional fundraising event from years gone by will once again be revisited when the pastoral council of St. Joachim’s Catholic Church holds its second shoebox dance and social on Friday at the Bras d’Or hall.
“It was a fun-filled evening. The music was wonderful,” Anne Ryan, pastoral council member and one of the organizers of the event, said about last year’s dance and social.
“The bidding was a lot of fun and some of the bids went high. They were upping the bids against each other. It was lots of fun.”
Longtime community members remember the shoebox dance and social as a traditional way to earn money for community school houses.
The tradition would see shoe boxes decorated with colourful tissue paper and homemade flowers and bows. The boxes would contain lunch for two and would be auctioned off, giving the person who purchased the box an opportunity to eat with their spouse or friend.
Ryan heard about the past events from Lucy Muise and Agnes MacIntyre who told her about the good memories they created.
“People didn’t have money then. They’d do that and raise the money and were really the ones who gave us a lot of the information. Back then you had to pay 10 cents just to get on the dance floor and they’d decorate the boxes and have fun.”
Ryan and others mulled the idea over for years before finally deciding to go through with it last year.
Proceeds this year will be used for ongoing projects at the church.
The dance takes place from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. with music provided by Paul Power.
Ryan said many people dress up in ‘50s and ‘60s vintage apparel but that is optional. The lunch is optional but all lunches brought in will be refrigerated until the auction.
Refreshments will also be served and the auctioneer for the evening will be Shane Ryan.
For tickets contact Anne Ryan at 736-6730 or John Sobol 7363544.