BN05-056: TEEN TOWN DANCE RATED A SUCCESS

Dec. 4, 2000

A dance held Friday night to raise money for a teen town complex was rated a success by organizers.

"It went great," said South Peace Teen Town Society (SPTTS) vice-president Jeremy Bowley. "Better than I expected. I didn’t expect too many people would be there and I thought they would stand on each side of the room, but it went way better than I thought."

Bowley estimated that the turn-out fluctuated between 75 and 130 people during the course of the night.

The dance, held at the Kiwanis Arts Centre, featured local drug and alcohol counselor Craig Clark as the disc jockey, while Bowley also found himself up on stage performing a rap tune.

"Ten minutes before the dance, none of our DJ equipment worked but somehow we pulled it off," Bowley said.

There was only one problem that Bowley could recall. A knife was confiscated from one of the dance-goers at the door. "We’ll mail it back to him," Bowley said.

The dance was the first of what will likely be many events meant to raise money for the teen town -- a complex that they hope will include a dance floor, recording studio, clothing store and coffee house, all meant for teenagers and young people.

The venture would be run by the non-profit SPTTS which is also counting on plenty of government money to get things off the ground.

SPTTS president Rose-Marie McLeod estimated that about $200 was raised in the venture once all the expenses were accounted for.

Next up may be a New Year’s Eve dance, although a venue is still to be selected.