Zoe Simon has a photo in her room that reminds her of a fun evening last year when she was named a princess and got to dance with the most important man in her life. The photo, displayed in a pink frame, sits on her bedside table and shows Zoe wearing a pink dress and a tiara and sitting by her father, Adam Simon.
It has been almost a year since Adam and Zoe went to the Cabot Panther Foundation’s inaugural My Daughter’s Heart Father/Daughter Dance. Zoe is a kindergartner at Southside Elementary School this year, and she said she is excited to go back to the dance with her dad again at the event on Feb. 19.
“About every week she asks, ‘When is the next daddy/daughter dance?’” Adam said.
Zoe said her favorite part of the dance was spinning, but she also enjoyed getting dressed up and meeting princesses who were in attendance last year. Belle from Beauty and the Beast was there, and there may be more princesses at the dance this year.
“She was thrilled,” Adam said, reminiscing about the evening. “I knew she’d have fun, but I didn’t know she would love it as much as she did. For her to keep holding onto that memory for a whole year is great.”
Zoe is Adam’s only daughter, and he said the dance is a great way for dads to spend some quality time with their daughters.
“It’s a good opportunity that we don’t usually take on our own to enjoy a night just with our daughters and to take them out and make them feel like a princess,” he said.
Last year’s event was the first father/daughter dance held by the Cabot Panther Foundation, and foundation director Amanda Elizandro said the dance was even more popular than the organizers expected.
“Last year we didn’t really have a number in mind,” she said. “We were thinking about 300 to 500 people would show up, [and] 1,200 tickets later, it kind of got away from us.”
Even with the large crowd, Adam said, he was impressed by all of the attention Zoe got.
“There were a lot of things I didn’t expect,” he said. “Each girl was treated as a princess when they were there. They all got tiaras, and everyone was dressed up.”
Elizandro said the setup for the event this year will be similar to last year’s dance. The couples will get their photos taken, then be announced as they enter the party.
“There’s a gentleman with a microphone in the hallway before you enter the room,” she said. “They’ll hand him a piece of paper with their name on it, and he will say, ‘Now introducing Princess Zoe.’ She will actually be crowned by a volunteer.”
While the father/daughter couples are dancing and mingling, dinner and dessert will be available. Dinner will include chicken strips, potato wedges, bread and drinks, and dessert bars will make a reappearance this year.
“They were a big hit last year,” Elizandro said of the dessert bars. “They’ll be filled with Rice Krispies Treats with pink drizzle, sugar cookies, brownies and even pink popcorn. The kids love that, for sure.”
This year, T-shirts will also be for sale to commemorate the evening. The shirts are pink, short-sleeved T-shirts with the “My Daughter’s Heart” logo on the front. The shirts cost $10 each and can be pre-ordered through the Cabot Panther Foundation.
“It’s just pink, pink, pink everywhere,” Elizandro said.
This year’s dance is open to Cabot Public Schools girls in pre-kindergarten through the sixth grade and their fathers. The dance will take place from 6-8 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Cabot High School cafeteria.
There are 1,000 tickets to the dance, and Elizandro said there is a limited supply left. Tickets are $15 per person. Each ticket includes dinner. Photos through Lifetouch Photography will be available for purchase.
Tickets can be purchased at the Cabot Public School’s Central Administrative Office, 602 N. Lincoln St., or at www.cabotschools.org/foundation/my-daughters-heart. For more information, call (501) 843-3363.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.