The Montgomery City Daddy Daughter Dance will return this year with new organizers.
The Clements family of Montgomery City will take over organizing duties of the event, which is scheduled for 6 p.m.-8 p.m. on March 28 at Knights of Columbus Hall. It is open for girls who attend Montgomery City Elementary or Immaculate Conception School or are homeschooled.

Last year, Dustin Ward organized the dance after finding out MCE wasn’t hosting it. With Ward not organizing it again this year, Mark and Kim Clements decided to take over. Mark and daughter Emma attended the dance in 2025.

“Last year, I was really impressed that Dustin stepped up and worked with some of the folks that got it going,” Kim said. “I felt like Emma got two more years left of (elementary) school and it was really important to me that she has the opportunity. If I wanted her to have the opportunity, then I would be willing to be part of the team that puts it on so the kids can still have that event with their special person.”

The Clements family had a 30-minute planning meeting with CertainTeed human resources coordinator Ben Schmidt on the morning of Feb. 16 at Rugged Roots Coffee Shop.

CertainTeed, located in Jonesburg, will help set up the decorations and provide financial support like last year. Schmidt said CertainTeed was interested in helping out with the dance last year after finding out that Ward’s daughter, Jalynn, was in her last year of elementary school and Ward wanted to give her an opportunity to participate in a daddy daughter dance for the final time.

“I just jumped in there and gave him a hand,” Schmidt said. “That’s how we kind of work. That’s how we operate at CertainTeed. We’re a big team in a big family. If somebody needs help, we’re all in it. I’m always looking for opportunities to help our community.”

High Hill Christian Church has volunteered to donate food, Sabrina Jones Photography will take pictures, Korrin Zerr will provide the flowers and Scott Pederson will return as the dance’s disc jockey.

“If I weren’t taking this on with everything else I have going on, I couldn’t have done it by myself,” said Kim Clements, who works as a teacher at Montgomery County Middle School. “But when many people get together to volunteer their time, you can do amazing things for your community.”

The entry fee for this year’s dance is free. Over 100 girls from the Montgomery City area attended last year’s event.

“I was surprised with our turnout last year because Dustin did a little bit of advertisement,” Schmidt said. “He handed out flyers. The school handed out flyers. I was really surprised at how packed that place was.”

Kim Clements said she’s looking forward to organizing an event that is expected to have another huge turnout this year.

“I planned and executed many cheer camps that had over 100 little girls, so I feel pretty confident that we can do this,” she said.

Schmidt gave the Clements family some advice while making plans for the dance.

“Dustin and I had several meetings last year to try to figure out what we wanted to do,” Schmidt said. “We decided to try to keep things simple. Don’t overcomplicate it. The more moving parts you have, the more chaos and stress and anxiety you’re going to have.”

The 2026 dance will be titled, “A Night Under The Stars.” For more information, contact Kim Clements at kclements@mc-wildcats.org.