By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Ben Otley tried to brush up on his Macarena dance moves Friday. But in the end, it didn’t really matter if his arms went up when they should have gone down, or if his hips went right when they should have gone left. It just mattered that he was there at the annual Daddy Daughter Dance at the Bowling Green Community Center.
“It’s just a great time to spend with my girls to make memories,” Otley said as he waited for dinner with his daughters, Reagan, 12, and Maggie, 8.
Maggie took off across the dance floor to show her ballet and gymnastic skills. Her dad opted to sit out that trial. “If I did, I’d have to go the hospital,” Otley said.
Both girls had already posed for photos with their dad, and were waiting for a chance to dance. “Some of the girls don’t want to have their dads on the dance floor,” Reagan said. But it appeared Otley’s dance card would be full for the evening.
As the 75 dads and daughters gathered in the gymnasium, the room filled with little girls in glittery dresses, sparkling shoes, and fancy hair buns.
Michael Abraham and his daughter, Angellica, 8, try to make a bracelet.
At one table, Michael Abraham and his daughter, Angellica, 8, tried to put beads on a string to make a bracelet.
“I wanted to spend time with my dad,” Angellica said. “He works all the time.”
Abraham, who works as a quality engineer at Jeep, was struggling to complete the bracelet, while Angellica was looking forward to dancing with her dad.
“I usually step on his feet,” she said with a grin.
In the kitchen, George Nicholson and his crew from Campus Pollyeyes were making pizza, pasta, breadsticks and salad for the annual dance.
“They ask me to do this every year, and it’s a lot of fun,” Nicholson said.
This was the second year for Beau Holley and his daughters, Morgan, 6, and Erika, 8, to attend the event.
“The girls like getting dressed up and seeing their dad dressed up,” which doesn’t happen very often, Holley said. “And eating pizza is always good.”
The girls were there for more than pizza. “We get to spend time with Daddy,” Morgan said.
Holley was setting the expectations high for his performance on the dance floor.
“I’m the best dancer you’ve ever seen,” he said with a smile at his girls. “Sort of,” Erika replied with the same grin.
Jeff Peters and daughter Raylie, 5, came decked out with a yellow rose boutonnière for Dad and a matching wrist corsage for daughter. The pair was working diligently on completing the handmade bracelet.
“We’ve dropped it twice already – almost a third,” Peters said as he secured the bracelet on Raylie’s wrist.
Raylie had plans for the next portion of the evening. “I want to dance with my dad a lot,” she said.
That meant a busy evening for Ivan Kovacevic, events coordinator with the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Department. His job duties Friday included disc jockey. He was expecting to get a lot of requests for popular Disney music, theme songs from movies like “Frozen” and “Moana,” and of course every dad’s favorite – line dances.
Mike Meeker and his daughter, Jazmin, 7, were loading up on carbs before taking to the dance floor. Despite missing some front teeth, Jazmin was doing her best to down some pizza.
“I like dancing with my Dad,” she said.
The feeling was mutual. “I can’t pass it up with my daughter,” Meeker said.
