Local Senior Citizen Breaks Hip at Dance Party

by Emma Embellischer

The Puckett Elks Lodge hosted a dance party for area senior citizens Friday night. They had a meal catered for the event, and they had a great turnout. Everyone took part in multiple dances including the twist, jitterbug, square dancing, and more. Fun was had by all until the very end of the night.

According to one attendee, Nifty Vanderford and Groovy Burnham got into an argument about who was the faster runner back in high school, and the argument got quite heated. Shifty Allen, a friend of both men, said they could settle it by doing a Griddy dance off. Of course neither man knew anything about the Griddy, so they had to watch a video on Youtube to learn the dance.

Groovy took the floor first with all eyes on him, and he did fair. One attendee said, “Groovy did ok. It was a little slow, and he lacked any knee bend.” The crowd was lit, as the young kids say, at that point. Nifty took to the floor for his turn. After a few steps, he tripped over his feet and fell to the floor. He was in severe pain, and he started holding his hip. Nifty’s fall ended the party for the night. He broke his hip, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.

An attendee said, “Nifty was overconfident. He started out putting his hands over his eyes making glasses like Justin Jefferson. As they say, pride cometh before a fall. I tried not to laugh at him, but it was impossible. How can you not laugh at a 75 year old man doing the Griddy? I felt bad when I realized he was hurt.”

I talked with Nifty yesterday while he was in the hospital. He said, “Groovy better be glad I fell, because I was going to outdance his ugly tail. Just wait til I get my new hip.”

An official at the Elks Lodge asked for everyone to pray for Nifty to make a full recovery. She also said the Griddy was banned from now on at the Lodge.