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Thompson High School hosted its annual Daddy Daughter Dance on Friday, April 12 at Warrior Arena—providing local dads and daughters with a venue to spend exciting, quality time together. (Contributed)

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Fathers of students in Alabaster City Schools had an opportunity to spend quality time with their daughters during Thompson High School’s Daddy Daughter Dance on Friday, April 12 at Warrior Arena.

“The Daddy Daughter Dance event was fantastic,” said John St. Pierre, a corporal with the Alabaster Police Department and the winner of the event’s dance-off. “My daughter and I had an amazing time. It was such a heartwarming experience to see her all dressed up and beaming with excitement. The atmosphere was filled with joy and laughter from the moment we walked in.”

Each year the THS Daddy Daughter dance not only serves a time for fathers and their daughters to enjoy a memorable evening together but the annual event also serves as a fundraiser for Thompson High School’s wrestling program and helps to cover the cost of travel, gear and other expenses.  This year’s edition of the dance raised more than $6,000.

“It’s become one of our major fundraisers of the year,” wrestling coach Shawn Weltzin said. “It funds both our men’s and women’s programs and the middle school program. And so, all our wrestlers actually work it, and I think they enjoy getting all dressed up.”

Weltzin said when they first started holding the event, they wanted to create a family atmosphere and to provide an opportunity for fathers to spend time with their daughters.

“Sometimes (dads) don’t get to have quality time with their girls,” Weltzin said. “I have two girls myself and when we started doing this, I would take my youngest daughter to this and my oldest daughter I would take to prom. It started out with, ‘Hey, let’s try to do something for dads and their daughters to spend some quality time together.’ It’s been fun”

During the dance, two awards were given out with one for the Best Dressed Couple and another for the Daddy Dance Off Champion which went to St. Pierre.

“We always danced at home, but nothing could have prepared us for the thrill of performing in front of everyone,” St. Pierre said. “The applause, cheers and trophies were incredibly rewarding, especially since that massive trophy barely fit in my car. She thought it all was the funniest thing.”

However, St. Pierre said the real prize was the bond he was able to share with his daughter on the dance floor.

“Seeing my daughter’s eyes, smile and laughter light up the room will forever be etched in my heart,” he said.

In addition to the dancing, families in attendance could enjoy eating pizza and cookies as well as the opportunity to take pictures with several Disney princesses such as Aurora and Cinderella.

“Overall, it was a magical evening filled with love, laughter and unforgettable moments,” St. Pierre said. “We’re already looking forward to next year’s event. Thank you to Alabaster City Schools and Thompson Wrestling for hosting the event.”

Weltzin shared that they gathered feedback from this year’s event and will continue to work on improving the annual event.

“We have some ideas that are going to make it bigger and better I think, and we want to gauge where we’re at with what we’re doing so far,” Weltzin said.

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