Moms, sons dance night away on ‘Date Night’
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Brylie Lindsay and her son Ryland, a student at Maryville Middle School, were snazzy in stripes during Friday’s Mommy-Son Date Night at the St. Gregory’s School gymnasium.
The St. Gregory’s School gymnasium was filled with pulsing lights and the steady throb of dance music Friday during the second annual Mommy-Son Date Night.
A sort of mirror image of the Daddy-Daughter Dance hosted a couple of weeks ago by Maryville Parks & Recreation at the Community Center, the tunes-and-treats evening gave mothers and sons — ranging in age from toddlers to middle school teens — a chance to bond, laugh, and live it up a little.
Probably the biggest difference between the two events was that, unlike many of the dads, most of the women in attendance actually knew how to dance.
St. Gregory’s Principal Susan Martin said the school more or less adopted the event after Parks & Rec tried organizing a similar program that failed to attract much of a crowd.
“They actually started this, but it didn’t go over very well,” Martin said. “So after they dropped it, we took it on last year. We didn’t want to step on their toes.”
For whatever reasons, the St. Greg’s version of the mom-son bash has proved popular, and probably 40 couples — along with a few trios and even quartets — were in attendance shortly after the gym doors opened at 6:30 p.m.
“(Last year) the moms said it was a lot of fun,” Martin said. “I think parents are always looking for opportunities to do something special with their kids.”
In addition to getting to dance with mom — and at one point linking up to form a wicked-looking conga line — each youngster at the event had his picture taken with his “date.” In addition, all mothers in attendance received a single red rose.
Maryville’s only parochial school, St. Gregory’s, which is operated by the St. Gregory Barbarigo Roman Catholic Parish, is known for its tightly knit, family-oriented atmosphere. However, Martin said many of the couples attending the date night were not members of the church community.
She estimated that perhaps three-quarters of the young people at this year’s dance go to school or church someplace else.
One of those couples consisted of Brylie Lindsay and her son Ryland, a student at Maryville Middle School.
“He wanted to dance with Mom,” Lindsay said, “and I thought it would be fun. We’ve never really had a date before, and this just seems like a good experience.”
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These conga-line youngsters had no trouble finding the beat Friday night at St. Gregory’s School during the second annual Mommy-Son Date night.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Melissa and Mak Coffelt were definitely giving off a Western vibe during Friday’s mother-son dance in the St. Gregory’s School gymnasium. About 40 couples attended the event, which the school has hosted for the past two years.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Lori and Kyler Smead were all smiles while grooving to a disco beat Friday during the St. Gregory’s School Mommy-Son Date Night.
