A 95-year-old veteran became the first person to dance at a newly-reopened nightclub, 74 years after meeting his wife there.
Sprightly Kevin Topham took to the dance floor with his caregiver when Club X reopened after more than a decade in Nottinghamshire, last weekend.
The grandad-of-one was adamant that he wanted to go back to the venue where he remembers meeting his bride, Molly, in the 1940s, when it was known as the Corn Exchange—a hotspot for servicemen.
It was during a Royal Air Force dance that the retired airman and oil rig worker wooed Molly, before their happily married life with two children.
Kevin noticed the venue was being reopened in his local newspaper and asked his part-time caregiver Donna Harvey whether she would take him dancing.
Despite being warned there would be “booming music” and strobe lighting in a room full of 18-year-olds, the senior was undeterred.
But Donna had a better plan, and asked the club owner if they could come in early. He not only offered the dance floor but gave the veteran his choice of music.
Kevin was the first person to shuffle across the floor on Saturday night, July 1, to the song Chattanooga Choo Choo by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
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“It was just amazing, his face absolutely beamed,” Donna said. “It melted my heart, because it made him happy.”
“All of his memories came flooding back to him.
“He put on his medals and he talked about how all the Americans stationed nearby would come in and there would be fights over who could dance with the women.
“It was just so heart warming. He hasn’t stopped talking about it.”
Donna said Kevin had asked her what she was doing that coming Saturday and then explained he wanted to take her out dancing.
“I said ‘Kevin, it will be nothing like it was in 1949’. But he just kept asking me about it – he was determined.
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“I thought if I didn’t take him he’s probably going to get in his car and go, which I didn’t want him to do. So when I was down there and saw the door of the club open, I went to go and see the manager.
“There was no umm-ing and ah-ing, the manager just said to bring him down at 8pm and that’s what we did.”
Kevin’s daughter, Karen Mason, said her dad had always loved dancing and found the whole event “quite emotional”. Kevin even spun Donna around.
“The new owners clearly care for their community, not just the young people but older members too.
They even put on a second slower song to close out the set.
The English club has since said it was inspired by Kevin and is looking at introducing an over-60s event each month where they will play music from the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
Watch their dances…
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