I had been doing this job for a minute, perhaps a few hours when I received a call inquiring about rental of the ballroom that is in this beautiful, old building.
I had to kind of bluff my way through the process as I hadn’t been trained on what to do in this situation. Little did I know I would be whisked into a Lifetime Movie special as this gentleman began to tell me his story.
He wanted to rent the ballroom for his 40th Wedding Anniversary. He wanted to schedule a catered party for him and his wife. “Well, catered by my sons” he says, with a sheepish giggle. When I questioned the need for such a large space for just one couple, he told me this story:
He was just stationed at Whidbey Island NAS. He’d gotten in that day, been processed, and only wanted to sleep. He crawled into his bunk and “The next thing I knew, I was on the floor.”
His newfound buddies woke him up by dumping him out of his bunk. They wanted to go party. As he was the only one with a car, he was unceremoniously elected to drive. He told them to go away (I am sure he cleaned up his actual response as he was talking to a lady) but they persisted. Finally, he decided to go.
They made the journey up to Bellingham, quite the drive back in the day.
He found out later that his wife also needed cajoling to come to the dance. She lived even further away than the Naval base and was reluctant to go to a dance where she didn’t know anyone. Her best friend, whom worked at the YW, was persistent and harassed her into going.
As the men (probably still boys, really) entered the ballroom, the dance was already well underway. He could obviously still picture it clearly as he described that there were tables lined with food along the wall, tables in the corner, a dance floor and small band.
He described the setting much like a junior high school dance: boys on one side of the room and girls on the other.
His friends immediately went to the food then sat down to eat. “You drug me all the way up here and you’re not going to dance with girls?” he reportedly said to them. They shrugged and continued to eat, ignoring his frustration.
He spun on his heel, surveyed the room, and spotted a girl. Walking across the ballroom, he approached a group of girls. He stuck his hand out to his future bride and asked her to dance. Surprised, she turned around to look if he was asking someone else. “I’m asking you” he said.
He took her hand and led her to the dance floor and they spent the remainder of the evening dancing and talking. They’ve been together ever since.
It just simply isn’t fair to make a girl cry on her first day of a job. But it’s a wonderful story and I love to be able to pass it along. He obviously loved telling the story as well, and I can picture kids and grandkids listening in rapture as he told it through the years.
Here is a picture of the ballroom, probably much like it was at the time:
I had to kind of bluff my way through the process as I hadn’t been trained on what to do in this situation. Little did I know I would be whisked into a Lifetime Movie special as this gentleman began to tell me his story.
He wanted to rent the ballroom for his 40th Wedding Anniversary. He wanted to schedule a catered party for him and his wife. “Well, catered by my sons” he says, with a sheepish giggle. When I questioned the need for such a large space for just one couple, he told me this story:
He was just stationed at Whidbey Island NAS. He’d gotten in that day, been processed, and only wanted to sleep. He crawled into his bunk and “The next thing I knew, I was on the floor.”
His newfound buddies woke him up by dumping him out of his bunk. They wanted to go party. As he was the only one with a car, he was unceremoniously elected to drive. He told them to go away (I am sure he cleaned up his actual response as he was talking to a lady) but they persisted. Finally, he decided to go.
They made the journey up to Bellingham, quite the drive back in the day.
He found out later that his wife also needed cajoling to come to the dance. She lived even further away than the Naval base and was reluctant to go to a dance where she didn’t know anyone. Her best friend, whom worked at the YW, was persistent and harassed her into going.
As the men (probably still boys, really) entered the ballroom, the dance was already well underway. He could obviously still picture it clearly as he described that there were tables lined with food along the wall, tables in the corner, a dance floor and small band.
He described the setting much like a junior high school dance: boys on one side of the room and girls on the other.
His friends immediately went to the food then sat down to eat. “You drug me all the way up here and you’re not going to dance with girls?” he reportedly said to them. They shrugged and continued to eat, ignoring his frustration.
He spun on his heel, surveyed the room, and spotted a girl. Walking across the ballroom, he approached a group of girls. He stuck his hand out to his future bride and asked her to dance. Surprised, she turned around to look if he was asking someone else. “I’m asking you” he said.
He took her hand and led her to the dance floor and they spent the remainder of the evening dancing and talking. They’ve been together ever since.
It just simply isn’t fair to make a girl cry on her first day of a job. But it’s a wonderful story and I love to be able to pass it along. He obviously loved telling the story as well, and I can picture kids and grandkids listening in rapture as he told it through the years.
Here is a picture of the ballroom, probably much like it was at the time:
Live Well, Laugh Often and Love Much. Dance as if there’s no one watching.
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