World War II Dance Fundraiser Still Swinging

According to Bill Krause, the Sunnybrook Ballroom was once a really swinging kind of place.

“Sunnybrook became famous during the war years,” Krause said. “The trolley came up and dropped dancers off from all around the tri-state area.

Krause, a Pottstown resident, was referring to the World War II years when the Sunnybrook Ballroom, located at 50 Sunnybrook Road in Pottstown, was a destination for famous big band acts. Today, the facility is owned and operated by the Sunnybrook Foundation, and is also the home of one of the longest-running World War II Swing Dance events in the region.

 “If anyone has any reason to want to come back to 1941-1942, this is as close as it gets,” Krause said.

According to Krause, the event was started over a decade ago in response to an article he saw in the Pottstown Mercury, reporting that funds were needed to help construct the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Krause had organized a small committee of friends and neighbors, as well as sponsors from local media, to produce a fundraising event. He said that the swing dance event was a natural fit for the occasion, and that Sunnybrook, which was newly restored at the time, made for a natural venue.

In the first two years of the event, Kruase said, the small committee was able to raise $16,000 for the memorial, which was given in the name of the Pottstown World War II Veterans organization.

Upon completion of the national memorial in 2004, the committee used swing dance funds to take Pottstown-area World War II veterans to see the memorial.

“That was an awesome trip with those guys,” Krause said.

The swing dance event has since raised funds for other veterans-related endeavors, such as participating with Wreathes Across America and hanging American flags along the main streets of Pottstown during patriotic holidays.

This year, funds raised through the event will benefit the Pottstown Area Senior Center. Kruase, a member of the center’s board of directors, noted that many of the center’s 3,300 members are also World War II veterans.

Ration Books and Mess Tents

Krause said the highlight of the event each year comes when a portion of the event is dedicated to recognizing and honoring the World War II veterans present. He said that the first year of the swing dance event, 90 veterans were recognized. In recent years however, the number of attending veterans has gone down to approximately 25. In all, Krause estimates that over 600 people attend.

The April 12 event will also feature the Swing Fever Orchestra, a 22-piece band, who will perform hits from the era throughout the entire evening.

Krause said that the event tries to recreate as many details from the era, such as a “trolley car” taking participants from the parking lot to the Sunnybrook doors. Ration books will be distributed with coupons allowing participants refreshments at the Mess tent, which will be staffed by Pottstown High School ROTC students. Members of the Phillies Fire Company, of which Krause is a 61-year member, will also be on staff volunteering during the event.

Participants are encouraged to dress up in vintage 1940s clothing and military uniforms as part of a contest at the event, and everyone will receive parting gifts, in the form of discharge papers.

Most of all, participants can expect lots of dancing.

“That floor gets full,” Krause said, adding with a small chuckle, “These people will show you the jitterbug.”

Heading to the World War II Swing Dance?

• Where: Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Road in Pottstown.

• When: April 12, from 8 – 11 p.m.

• Admission: Tickets cost $24 per person at the Pottstown Area Senior Center or Carter’s Locksmith Shop.

For more information, call 610-323-2229.