Sock Hop benefit for Cape Area Family Resource Center held after being canceled twice by bad weather

The Sunday night sock hop at the Cape Area Family Resource Center, originally scheduled as an outdoor event and twice canceled by bad weather, may have been tripped up by sunny skies. Fewer than 50 people attended the dance.

"First Hurricane Ike, and then a thunderstorm and here we are with a beautiful, almost 80-degree day in November," said Michelle Wallace, the resource center's executive director. She suspected some people had forgotten about the dance. It is one of a number of glitches that have troubled the resource center this year.

The center's free after-school program was jeopardized after a grant application for a series of summer programs resulted in an inspection and the requirement to fix 25 major problems that cost an estimated $60,000 to correct.

Wallace said the most recent fire inspection "went wonderfully" and small fixes are underway, such as remaking a window into a spot where people can exit the basement if necessary. The fire alarm has been repaired by the installation company.

The center has not yet been able to convince state officials to waive some requirements specific to commercial child-care centers.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comBen and Shelby Shell dance to "Shake, Rattle and Roll" Sunday at the Raising the Roof Sock Hop benefit for the Cape Area Family Resource Center.

"We're not a child-care facility," she said. "We don't get paid to watch people's children."

Wallace is getting frustrated with the red tape.

"Every time I call up there, I get voice mail. No one ever calls me back," she said. Wallace said she feels like she's in limbo, but she's also not giving up.

"We're not going to close our doors."

Sunday's dance was supposed to raise money to replace funds used to put a new roof on the building earlier this year. The light attendance didn't faze Ben and Shelby Shell, who sang along to one another as they bopped along the wooden floor.

The Shells, who celebrated their 51-year anniversary last week, said they often went to sock hops while dating.

"This is the perfect place for a sock hop," Shelby Shell said.

They got involved in the resource center as part of a mission for Centenary United Methodist Church; Shelby Shell also taught a summer class on math and bubbles at the center.

Tracia Hagier, 11, arrived with her cousins, Elijah Pratt, 10 and Lenoria Pratt, 12, and her uncle Lloyd Pratt. The children shrugged off the old-fashioned music, but gave enthusiastic nods to the food donated by Buckners, Burritoville, Global Cafe, Bella Italia, Pizza Hut and Port Cape. Others sipped drinks provided by Saffron and Cup 'N' Cork or beer and wine.

Victoria Adams, Whitney Hoffmann, Lauren Johnson and Adrienne Rodgers, all volunteers from Gamma Sigma Sigma, the only national service sorority at Southeast Missouri State University, helped serve food.

Bridget Lowe said she came to the dance after hearing about it from coworkers. She said it was her first time inside the resource center, but many of her nieces and nephews attend summer programs there.

"They do a lot with the kids," she said. "It's really nice."

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

388-3646

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