The Leaf-Chronicle
The night air was perfect. The food, elegantly catered by Olive Garden, delicious. Men in
suits and women in party dresses socialized and danced at the first-ever project of the new Dawn Stanfill Foundation -- Dancing
'til Dawn, held Saturday at F&M Bank.
No one thought about money.
So at the end of Saturday night, technically
in the first minutes of Sunday morning, people were stunned to learn how much money they had raised. Party goers stood and
cheered, hands raised, to hear ticket and auction sales brought in $15,846, with all but the smallest expenses covered by
local sponsors.
Brittnye Stanfill, president of the foundation, could say only, "Shut up!" when she heard
the news, and was still in shock when she passed on the number to late-staying attendees.
"It's been wonderful,"
said foundation board member Sabrina Greenfield. "Everybody stayed! That's what I'm impressed with."
Then
good became even better when 10 volunteers from Austin Peay State University's ATO fraternity, who had manned the front door,
the bar, and cleared tables all night, donated the $124 they received in tips. The tally was then $15,970, about 10 times
what Brittnye Stanfill expected, and so close to the $16,000 mark.
Then Brian Cohen, who flew in from Jacksonville,
Fla., to be Brittnye's date for the evening, said, "Wait, I haven't paid for my ticket."
He handed over $50
for the ticket, and at around 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Pam McCaslin announced the first fundraising total for the foundation established
in her sister's honor: $16,020.
The money will be used to help make pediatric cancer less of a financial burden for
the families of Clarksville children who have the illness. Brittnye Stanfill also hopes for a cure for cancer.
Her mother,
Dawn Stanfill, who died of breast cancer in 2007, was a teacher and adored children. The nonprofit foundation will use some
of the money raised to fund local pediatric cancer research.
'A great tribute'
The gathering, held in F&M
Bank's Franklin Room overlooking Public Square, was like several reunions in one. Young friends of Brittnye's and of her cousin,
board member Bethany McCaslin, socialized with some of Dawn Stanfill's former students. Elsewhere, a roomful of Clarksville
teachers gathered, most of whom once worked with Dawn. Then there was a family reunion going on, with Dawn's parents, brothers
and sister, cousins and other relatives chatting in small groups.
Dawn's aunt Geneva Jenkins came with her daughter,
Sherry Green, and her granddaughter, Dusty Lloyd. The three generations made a two-hour drive from Henderson, Ky., to come
to Dancing 'til Dawn, leaving their men at home.
"It's a beautiful evening," Green said, looking out over
the Cumberland River from the Franklin Room's terrace. "Dawn would be very proud, I think. I think her daughter did an
outstanding job, and, of course, Dawn's sister was a big contribution to it. She was an extraordinary lady, she really was.
And it's a great, great tribute."
Dawn's brothers, Bobby and Ross Clark, spent some time in the woods before the
party, gathering tree branches with Brittnye that they made into candlelit table centerpieces, giving the room the feeling
of an enchanted forest.
"I'm so excited that you guys came tonight," Brittnye Stanfill said to the more than
180 attendees. "This is the first annual Dancing 'til Dawn. It is going to be every year, so I expect to see all of you
every year! It's in honor of an amazing person, my mom, Dawn Stanfill. She is my hero and she was my best friend, and she
would be so excited to see you all here."
Robert Clark, Dawn's father and Brittnye's grandfather, chose the winner
of a drawing for a Florida weekend spent watching the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Titans, including food and hotel. Pat
Bryant won the getaway, while dozens of other guests upped the take for the night by bidding on items in the silent auction,
like the Biltmore Mansion getaway, won by Jim Knoll.
People danced to the sounds of DJ Dwight Berry, with board member
Clay Greenfield and Mary Margo Turner the first couple on the floor as well as among the last.
"We love to dance,"
Turner said. "He's a hopeless romantic."
As the three generations of Dawn's relatives from Henderson, Ky.
prepared to leave, Jenkins said she had great fun with her daughter, granddaughter, and so many of Dawn's friends and relatives.
"I'm
so glad we came. We wouldn't have missed it," Jenkins said. "We've always been a close-knit group. It was hard losing
Dawn. I hope next year this is even bigger."
Dancing 'til Dawn was a healthy start, predicting a promising future
for The Dawn Stanfill Foundation, many guests said. Robert Clark said he has no doubt that, with his granddaughter at the
helm, the foundation will go far.
"Brittnye can do anything Brittnye wants to do," he said. "She can
do anything she sets her mind to do."
Stacy Leiser is a features writer for The Leaf-Chronicle. She can be reached
at 245-0720 or stacyleiser@theleafchronicle.com.
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