A 1940s World War II Ball is slated for Saturday, June 13, at Colorado’s Boulder Airport (BDU)…The Joe Peterson Dance Orchestra, a 10-piece big band, will perform under the nose of the B25 Bomber. Also performing will be The Andrews Sisters Singers and The Timberliners, a 24-person barbershop chorus. There also will be swing dancing wine, champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
I attended an event such as this and it was a very enjoyable trip back to the “greatest generation”. A big band was hired and most all of the participants wore WWII clothing. Men wore Airmen and Army tunics. Women graced the event with 1940’s dresses and hats made of felt and feathers. A big band played Glenn Miller tunes and dancers jitterbugged on the hanger floor. Warbirds had been flown in and were placed like sentinels at the entrance. For a short while we were transported back to a time when our nation was unified by a common purpose. Many were pilots, men I knew from the EAA so it led to a some hanger flying. I even did a little dancing with my wife (Gratefully a video camera did not capture it). I was dressed in a sport coat, Mrs. Wilko in a current stylish dress. We really didn’t fit in at all but I wasn’t ready to search for a vintage military uniform for the occasion.
Soon we found tables for dinner. A young man in Navy dress whites sat down with us. He looked like a picture from a recruiting poster. We chatted about warbirds and World War II. A fine and engaging young man. I complimented him on how realistic his “costume” appeared. "Oh", he smiled. "It’s actually my uniform. I arrived in the T-38 (jet) parked on the ramp".
…and that, fellow readers, is the only way to show up for a dinner dance
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