Fort Rucker fathers make memories with daughters

Fathers and daughters made precious memories during the Daddy Daughter Dance held Saturday, Feb. 2, at The Landing on Fort Rucker.

The dance was sponsored by Fort Rucker’s Protestant Women of the Church (PWOC), and is held annually to provide a special time for fathers and daughters. This year, PWOC doubled the number of tickets sold to the event, reaching around 260 tickets.

Natalie McGrew and Stacey McPeake, chairs of special events and retreats, said the program is always run by volunteers.

“This is to give back to the community for dads and daughters to have a special night out,” McGrew said.

“We’re thrilled with the turnout, just the amount of people who came and the support from the community,” McPeake said. “It’s been amazing.

“It’s just a precious memory for them, I think, to be able to show their girls how a man should treat them… just with respect,” she said. “Even just to come out and enjoy the evening together, that’s what it’s for.”

PWOC President Amy Taylor said it was also special to see fathers keep the tickets for the event as a reminder of their time together with their daughter.

“It’s a special memory for them, especially because so many of them deploy or go on training,” she said. “This is a time they get to be with their daughters.”

McGrew and McPeake said they hope the daughters take the memory of this “sweet time” with their fathers.

“They have such fun,” McPeake said. “I guess that was our goal this year, was to create this atmosphere that was really special and sweet.”

McPeake also said the organization was happy to see the support from the community to bring the event together.

“We’ve just been so impressed with how people have helped us,” she said, stating that many businesses provided extras for attendees as well as providing free services. “Everybody has just been so wonderful.”

“It was nice how the community came together to help ensure that this was a special event for soldiers and their daughters,” McGrew said.

The PWOC, who hosted the dance, is an international ministry organization. Taylor said the organization was founded in Europe around World War II.

“It started in Europe, and then eventually as women experienced it in Europe were stationed back in the United States, they missed that, and so it became an international ministry,” Taylor said.

Protestant Women of the Church meets for Bible study every Tuesday at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

“For all the moms out there and all the women out there, they are always welcome to join us,” McGrew said. “Our doors are always open.”

During the event, fathers and daughters shared a special meal and were treated to an opportunity to meet Miss Alabama Callie Walker.

Enterprise School of Dance also performed several dances for attendees, and taught a dance to the fathers and daughters before they danced the night away.