RAF veteran becomes first to dance at new nightclub 74 years after meeting his wife there
- 10 months ago
A 95-year-old RAF veteran became the first person to dance at a newly-opened nightclub - 74 YEARS after meeting his wife there.
Sprightly Kevin Topham took to the dancefloor to jive with his carer when Club X reopened after more than a decade in Newark, Notts., last weekend.
The grandad-of-one was adamant he wanted to go back to the venue as he remembered dancing there in the 1940s when it was known as the Corn Exchange.
Kevin from Edingley, Notts., met his late wife Molly at the club in 1949 when it was a hotspot for servicemen to go dancing.
It was during an RAF dance that the retired airman and oil rig worker wooed Molly, and the couple went on to have happy married life and two children together.
Kevin noticed the venue was being reopened in his local newspaper and asked his part-time carer Donna Harvey whether she would take him there dancing.
Despite being warned there would be "booming music", strobe lighting and "full of 18-year-olds" the pensioner was undeterred.
Donna asked the club if Kevin could come in for a boogie and the owner was willing to oblige - even giving him the dance floor to himself and a choice of song.
Kevin was the first person through the doors at 8pm on Saturday night (1/7) and danced to Chattanooga Choo Choo by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Donna said: “It was just amazing, his face absolutely beamed.
"It was just so humbling and it melted my heart, because it made him happy
“All of his memories came flooding back to him, I didn’t realise that’s where he’d met his wife.
“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.
“When we got there he asked where the piano was bless him, because when he used to go there was a live band.
“It was just so humbling and 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.
She added: “I said I couldn’t take him because it would be full of 18-year-olds with loud music and strobe lighting and he wouldn’t be able to hear himself think.
"I said 'Kevin, it will be nothing like it was in 1949'. But he just kept asking me about it – he was determined.
"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 I had to make sure he was safe.
“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 umming and ahing, the manager just said to bring him down at 8pm and that’s what we did, anything to make him happy.”
Kevin’s daughter, Karen Mason, said her dad had always loved dancing and found the whole event "quite emotional".
Sprightly Kevin Topham took to the dancefloor to jive with his carer when Club X reopened after more than a decade in Newark, Notts., last weekend.
The grandad-of-one was adamant he wanted to go back to the venue as he remembered dancing there in the 1940s when it was known as the Corn Exchange.
Kevin from Edingley, Notts., met his late wife Molly at the club in 1949 when it was a hotspot for servicemen to go dancing.
It was during an RAF dance that the retired airman and oil rig worker wooed Molly, and the couple went on to have happy married life and two children together.
Kevin noticed the venue was being reopened in his local newspaper and asked his part-time carer Donna Harvey whether she would take him there dancing.
Despite being warned there would be "booming music", strobe lighting and "full of 18-year-olds" the pensioner was undeterred.
Donna asked the club if Kevin could come in for a boogie and the owner was willing to oblige - even giving him the dance floor to himself and a choice of song.
Kevin was the first person through the doors at 8pm on Saturday night (1/7) and danced to Chattanooga Choo Choo by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Donna said: “It was just amazing, his face absolutely beamed.
"It was just so humbling and it melted my heart, because it made him happy
“All of his memories came flooding back to him, I didn’t realise that’s where he’d met his wife.
“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.
“When we got there he asked where the piano was bless him, because when he used to go there was a live band.
“It was just so humbling and 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.
She added: “I said I couldn’t take him because it would be full of 18-year-olds with loud music and strobe lighting and he wouldn’t be able to hear himself think.
"I said 'Kevin, it will be nothing like it was in 1949'. But he just kept asking me about it – he was determined.
"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 I had to make sure he was safe.
“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 umming and ahing, the manager just said to bring him down at 8pm and that’s what we did, anything to make him happy.”
Kevin’s daughter, Karen Mason, said her dad had always loved dancing and found the whole event "quite emotional".