Originally published February 3, 2014

Most of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers are familiar with Sadie Hawkins Day—the one day of the year when girls could ask a boy out on a date.

However, I’m sure Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z have no problem with it. After all, we live in an era when the new generation of girls and boys accept asking each other for a date on any given day of the year.

That is excellent progress, but back in the early ’60s, when I was in high school, the boy always asked the girl out for a date.

I still remember my first Sadie Hawkins Day – November 13, 1963.

At my high school, O’Neill Collegiate & Vocational Institute (OCVI), in Oshawa, Ontario, the auditorium was where everyone gathered before, during lunch, and after school (if you had a detention).

We didn’t have Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram in those days. 

Regarding communication, we were in the age of dinosaurs (Rotary-dial telephones, no internet or social media).

The indoor balcony surrounding the OCVI auditorium is where the paper banners are hung to announce and promote upcoming events such as school elections, football games, and school dances.

My friends Cathy & Paul Gazda sent me this 1967 auditorium photo.

Cathy and I were students at the school at the same time, although we didn’t know each other then.

The banners were hand-made by students and were often very colorful and funny.

So, in early November 1963, I entered the auditorium and noticed all the banners proclaiming the upcoming Sadie Hawkins Day Dance.

I didn’t know who Sadie Hawkins was or why we celebrated a day devoted to her.

And because it was my first year of high school (I was 13 years old), I had to rely on my two older sisters to explain what Sadie Hawkins Day was about.

And when I learned that girls would be calling boys to ask them out, I was both excited and terrified.

I was either excited that a girl (or girls) might ask me out or terrified that nobody would—and I would be the only boy at OCVI without a date on Sadie Hawkins Day.

I probably died a thousand deaths in the two weeks leading up to the annual Sadie Hawkins Day Dance, wondering:

• Will a girl call to ask me out?
• Will the girl be pretty and built like a brick outhouse?  (My Uncle Fred’s favorite saying)
• Will more than one girl ask me out?
• What if a prettier girl calls after I have already committed myself to another?
• Who pays to get into the dance – the girl who asks me out or me?
• What does “Going Dutch” mean?
• What if nobody asks me out?

But Danny, today isn’t Sadie Hawkins Day?

Spanky

Patience, Spanky, patience!

Two weeks ago, the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game and were headed to the Super Bowl in New Jersey.

They would be playing the Denver Broncos, who had won the AFC championship title.

The past two weeks have been filled with the same kind of excitement and terror that I experienced 50 years ago.

I was excited that my beloved Seahawks would be in the Super Bowl for only the second time in their history.

However, I was terrified that they were facing the Denver Broncos, who had the best offense in the NFL.

Those two weeks leading up to yesterday’s game felt like an eternity – just as waiting for a girl to call me for a date on Sadie Hawkins Day fifty years ago.

As game time approached, most sports writers were predicting a Denver win.  The betting line favored Denver by two points.

I called my brother Randy in Mister and Misses Auga (Mississauga), a diehard San Francisco 49ers fan, on Sunday morning. 

He tried to reassure me that the Seahawks would prevail over the Broncos.

I told him I would be drunk from celebrating a win or dealing with a depressing loss.

My dream became reality yesterday – Seattle crushed the favored Broncos 43-8!

And I’d like to say that winning the Super Bowl yesterday was more important than getting asked out on a date by a girl on Sadie Hawkins Day – but it wasn’t.

Nobody asked me out on Sadie Hawkins Day, November 13, 1963, or the remaining years until I graduated.

The song isn’t what I typically listen to, but then again, I’m a dinosaur and partial to Baby Boomer and Generation X music (aka music for old farts).

Although I’m 75, I regret never having a girl ask me out on a date.

Maybe, on the 2025 Sadie Hawkins Day, I’ll get asked.

But I will need to answer by saying…

If I weren’t married and you weren’t fussy…

Dedicated to Cathy & Paul Gazda

I hope my stories are a gift to your head and heart.

Hugs,

Danny

Today’s tune from Danny’s library (purchased):

You’ll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold

So she took her love for to gaze awhile
Among the fields of barley
In his arms, she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me? Will you be my love
Among the fields of barley?
And you can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold

I never made promises lightly.
And there have been some that I’ve broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We’ll walk in fields of gold

[Guitar Solo]

I never made promises lightly.
And there have been some that I’ve broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We’ll walk in fields of gold (Ooh)

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
As you lie in fields of gold

You’ll remember me when the west wind moves
Among the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
(Ooh, oooh)

Songwriters: Sting

Here are other songs I’m listening to: These Songs Will Make You Smile Today.