CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — Hey, daddio, if you can’t get your thrill on “Blueberry Hill,” you might try the Apple Shed in Clarksville.
That’s where Raintree Arts Council’s Encore fund-raiser will offer a 1950s Sock Hop on Saturday, April 1.
Doors open at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7. Tickets are $25 each and reservations are due by March 25. They can be made by calling 573-754-0335.
“Why a sock hop?” asked Judi Bruce, who is organizing the event with Debbie Ingram. “Why not? We chose that theme as it was a fun era.”
Live renditions of such 1950s hits as “Love Me Tender,” “Chances Are,” “To Know Him is to Love Him,” “Earth Angel,” “That’ll Be the Day,” “It’s Now or Never,” “Only You” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” will be offered.
Performers include Bruce, Ingram, Alyssa Niemeyer, Jessica Harting, Bev Cogar, Tommy Wallace, Angela Maier, Donna Grote, Gary Richardson, Kaitlyn Fielder, Debbie Ingram and Mindy Webert. Howard Street Dance Studio of Bowling Green is scheduled to do a routine to the song “Shake a Tail Feather.”
People who grew up in the 1950s, and even those who came afterward, recall it as a special time, with a booming economy and the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.
Girls wore bobby socks, poodle skirts, petticoats and letter sweaters and “class rings from your boyfriend with oodles of tape under them to fit your finger,” Bruce said. Guys greased their hair, wore chinos or a tight pair of jeans, donned leather jackets or slipped on skinny ties.
“The 50s was the best in our culture,” Bruce said.
Emcee for the evening will be Charlie “Cool Cat” Cogar. He remembers growing up on Long Island “glued to my tiny red and white transistor radio” listening to programs, baseball and tunes.
Cogar loved tuning in Yankees games on the AM dial and later followed many Baby Boomers to FM radio. Over the years, all of those hours had a profound impact.
“I think these formative years and always playing with a camera were fodder for majoring in media communications in undergraduate and graduate school,” said Cogar, who still has that red and white transistor radio. “All of my working years were in this field.”
Another big attraction of the evening will be a silent auction featuring “a variety of over 30 unique items” with “something for everyone,” said Raintree President Ashley Branstetter. “We have décor, jewelry, artwork by local artists, photographs, beauty gifts, food and drink baskets, outdoor items and much more.”
Oh, and there will be contests – best-dressed, twist and hula hoop. Bruce is ready for that last one, even if she’s ineligible due to her Raintree board membership.
“Can I hula hoop?” she asked. “I used to. Can I now? The hula hoop I bought for the contest hasn’t been tried out yet.”
Proceeds will help fund Raintree activities. In the last year, the organization has sponsored the Missouri State Chili Cook-Off, Clarksville Eagle Days, Christmas With Donna Grote, Shakespeare in the Park and a performance of the musical “9 to 5” by the Changelings theater group, a jazz concert by Cornet Chop Suey and school performances of “James and the Giant Peach” by Imaginary Theatre Company.