May I have this dance?

Sons, nephews and grandsons from all over the county suited up Friday night to treat their special ladies to a special evening at the Ruckersville Elementary School.
Daughters, nieces and granddaughters donned their party dresses to treat the special men in their lives to the same - at the same place—Saturday night.
The occasions were: The Second Annual Mother/Son Valentine’s Dance and the Sixth Annual Father/Daughter Dance, put on by the Greene County Department of Parks and Recreation.
The dances “get bigger each year,“ says Director of Parks and Recreation Julius Bates,
The music - from hip hop to country to southern rock, to bluegrass, to disco to oldies and more - was near constant, broken only by announcements of door prize and raffle winners.
Almost all of the nearly 400 people - both children and adults—danced, at one time or another.
On Friday, Tristin Mazuranic, 7, and Caleb Deane, 7, both of Ruckersville, took their mothers, Nancy Mazuranic and Ange Deane to the dance —for the second time. The boys didn’t say much, but Tristin’s mom said, “I love it. It’s so much fun … and an affordable date.“
Caleb’s mom said he didn’t dance much last year, but this year he joined in.
John Scott, 8, of Ruckersville, took his mom, Felicia Walker, to the dance. Cruz Fielding, 5, of Stanardsville, took both his mother, Tiffany Sims, and his grandmother, Jean Sims. Zachary Wright, 11, of Ruckersville took his mother, Nina Wright. Jacob Mitchell, 6, of Barboursville, took his mother, Latonya Mitchell, and Jorden Snow, 5, of Stanardsville, took his mother, Heather Snow. Dylan Thomas, 5, of Stanardsville, took his grandmother, Lori Raines.
The dance might have been about celebrating relationships between youngsters and their adult loved-ones, but it was also about friendship.
Some boys, like Jordan Richards, 10, Michael Deisbeck, 9, both of Ruckersville, and Caleb Arritt, 10, of Stanardsville, took breaks away from their ladies to visit the refreshment table together. Friends Ben Watson, 6, Logan Barbour, 6½ and Caleb Sims, 7, all of Ruckersville, spent some quality guy-time together, as did Trey Hawkins, 7, Tyler Huckstep, 8, and Hayden Yowell, 5, all of Stanardsville.
On Saturday, so many tickets were sold for the Father/Daughter dance that “we had to separate (our guests) into age groups,“ said Bates.
One dance, for young ladies in pre-kindergarten through the third grade, was held from 4-5:30 p.m.
Abigail Sheler, 8, of Stanardsville, took her father, Sean Sheler to that dance. Avery Brown, 3, of Dyke and her sister, Riley, 6, took their father, Tony Brown. Rebekah Coles, 8, of Ruckersville took her father Courtney Coles, and Lacey Beale, 8, of Stanardsville, her sister Kaitlyn, 6, and their cousin Kortney Shifflett, 5, of Stanardsville took Lacey and Kaitlyn’s father, Shane Beale, who taught all three girls to do “Cupid’s Shuffle.“
Callie Wilson, 7, of Ruckersville, took her father, Brian Wilson. Megan Sorochin, 7, of Ruckersville, took her father, Craig Sorochin. Erica Zedan, 9, of Stanardsville, took her father, Matthew Zedan.
And, as all young men did not spend all their time with their ladies, not all young ladies spent all their time with their men.
Anna Graham, 6, and Bridget Powell, 8, both of Ruckersville left their fathers - for a few moments, at least - to join other young ladies dancing on stage, while Olivia Pinggeli, 8, and Rebekah Coles, 8, did a scarf dance of their own creation.
Things weren’t all that different at the later dance - held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for girls in the fourth through eighth grades.
Kyra Schaff, 10, of Ruckersville, took her father, Victor Schaff to the dance that opened with “Here for the Party” by Gretchen Wilson.
Chloe Clark, 10, of Stanardsville, brought her father, Robin Clark, Sophia Cochran, 10, of Ruckersville, brought her father, John Cochran. Taylor Herring, almost 10, of Ruckersville, brought her father, Keith Herring. Kelsey Shifflett, 9, of Stanardsville, brought her father, Brent Shifflett. Amanda Jordan, 12, of Ruckersville brought her father, Ray Jordan. Hailey Yowell, 8, or Ruckersville, brought her father, Robby Yowell. Emma Springer, 10, of Stanardsville brought her father, Rob Springer, and Brooke Nicholson, 12, and her sister Bree, 10, brought their father, Tom Nicholson.
And Juliet Karnes, 10, of Ruckersville brought her father, Derek, who taught her to disco - or maybe she taught him.
Just before the evening ended with “Happy Trails” by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the two were tearing up the floor to the tune of “Stayin’ Alive.“
Both were evenings the Parks and Recreation Department made sure would not be forgotten: before they left, each couple received a free 3x5 photo compliments of PhotoSmith and the department.