Sardo Impressed by Winter Dance Party

CLEAR LAKE, IA---One visitor to this past weekend's Winter Dance Party is leaving with a totally different opinion of the event.

Frankie Sardo was on the original Winter Dance Party bill 51 years ago at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.

On Saturday night after the show we found him signing his name on an exhibit celebrating his appearance along with Buddy Holly, the J.P. (the Big Bopper) Richardson and Ritchie Valens.

Sardo said guilt and the impression that people were just trying to profit from his friends deaths kept him away for so many years.

"I like very much the way my friends were honored here when I walked into the ballroom it was unchanged it was exactly the way it was, I heard, could see my friends on stage and I felt comfortable," said Sardo.

Sardo said when he met the fans he realized how much they were into the music and how young at heart they were.

He said that "is the sweetest memory" he will take away from the weekend.

Sardo said after he walked in he realized the surf had been around a long before he and his friends performed there in 1959.

He supports the Surf's effort to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sardo also believes they should film the Winter Dance Party events and strike a network cable deal to show the performances.

Maybe expand it to show the 70's, 80's and 90's he said.

"This is about the music of the 50's and 60's and how it changed peoples lives and how they still love it today," said Sardo.