VERO BEACH — As Back to the Future played on flat screens around the room, guests went back in time at a Crazy 80’s Dance Party to benefit the United Way. And from Top Gun to Valley Girl, the outfits were “totally awesome.”
“I wanted to do something fun to raise money for the United Way and the 80’s hadn’t been done much,” said event organizer Sabrina Carpenter. A children’s book author, the host of the Sabrina Unscripted radio show and founder of the Perfected Pen, she admitted to being quite young during that era.
“To me it was all about big hair and fashion,” said Carpenter, sporting an adorable side ponytail. “There really weren’t any fashion no-nos then; it was pretty much anything goes.”
“She did this all on her own. Isn’t that wonderful?” asked Chris Loftus, co-chair with husband Don of the 2011-12 United Way Campaign. “She is a one-woman show; a real dynamo.”
The event was held at The Plaza, a relatively new facility owned by Glenn and Dorothy Strunk, who donated its use for the event. Unique feather bouquets designed and donated by Lara’s Theme. enhanced all the tables.
Primarily used for family receptions after funerals at Strunk Funeral Home next door, the facility now sports a dance floor and is in the process of being expanded for greater use.
The Strunks married in 1979 and fondly remembered the 80s in Vero Beach, recalling places such as Domino’s the Dug Out and the Tahitian as the primary beachside hotspots. “The Tahitian was where the blue bloods went,” said Glenn Strunk. “That’s where the Riomar crowd would gather.”
DJ Ed Mead of Class Act Productions donated his time for the event, and enticed guests to the dance floor with a nostalgic mix of one-hit wonders and mega hits from the 80s.
“My first job was at Hale Groves in 1979,” remembered Lynn Fiske as she rested from dancing. She had great memories of the drive-in movie theatre on U.S. 1 and of course the famous, or in some cases infamous, Marvin Gardens.
“That was the place to go,” said Fiske. “I remember when the Smothers Brothers came to town; Tommy got into a brawl at Domino’s and got a black eye. And at Waldo’s I ran into Twiggy and the guy who played Thurston Howell, III having dinner.”
Money raised at the event will be donated to United Way agencies that are centered on education, such as Youth Guidance and the Gifford Youth Activity Center.
“Next we’re thinking about doing something geared towards seniors; we want to target everyone the United Way helps,” said Faith Frazier, United Way director of workplace giving.
“Working with them has made me so aware of the way the United Way wraps their wonderful arms around all the agencies they support,” said Carpenter.
