- April 23, 2024
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The Ormond Beach Senior Center’s Sweet Heart Ball Friday, Feb. 15, will benefit the Council on Aging.
BY MIKE CAVALIERE | ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Weekly dances at the Ormond Beach Senior Center usually take place 2 p.m. Wednesday, but with the help of Halifax Health, this week’s shindig is going to be a little different.
Kicking off 6:30 p.m. Friday, the Senior Center’s Valentine’s Day Sweet Heart Ball will benefit the Volusia-Flagler United Way and the Volusia County Council on Aging, which operates the center. Scheduled the day after Valentine’s, and during American Heart Month, the dance will also feature a sit-down, heart-healthy dinner, instead of the usual refreshments, along with door prizes and music from the Blue Notes.
“This is our first (Sweet Heart Ball), and I’m hoping we can keep them going,” said Justine Bailey, dance organizer and community liaison for Halifax Health. “Maybe next year, we can benefit a new charity.”
But, with an expected turnout of fewer than 100 seniors, Bailey isn’t thinking of the dance as a major moneymaker.
“It’s really more about the event,” she said. “The fundraising’s nice, but I wanted to have something special for (the seniors) ... in a place where they’re comfortable and safe.”
“There are a lot of people who, believe it or not, do a whole dance circuit all around Volusia County,” Senior Center Coordinator Teddy Blauvelt said. “Every single day of the week, they dance.”
So his center’s weekly $5 dances, which attract anywhere from 40-90 guests, depending on the season, fit well into that schedule. But it isn’t only die-hards who show up. Many seniors come stag, he added, and the gender split is almost always about 50-50.
Fairly new to her position — Bailey started at Halifax Health in October — she is also in the process of organizing senior safety seminars throughout the year in Ormond Beach, on “more advanced topics,” she says, such as senior bullying.
Tickets to the dance are for sale at the Senior Center, or by visiting www.sweetheartball.webs.com, for $20 per person or $35 per couple.
Call Bailey, at 503-5034, or Blauvelt, at 672-4146.
