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PASCO -- Alyson Blair watched in the mirror as her mother used a thin curling iron to make ringlets in her straight brown hair.
"I look like Shirley Temple," the 10-year-old said, gently pulling on one of the curls.
Her mom, Debra, laughed. "You don't even know who that is," she said.
But after Alyson's hair was done and she'd put on the long red dress that was pressed and hanging on her bedroom door, she did look a little like a movie star.
Especially to her dad.
"Wow, darling. You grew up on me," Ralph Blair said, smiling, as his daughter emerged from her room decked out from head to toe.
He was the reason she was so dressed up. The Kennewick dad invited his little girl to Friday's Father-Daughter Ball at TRAC in Pasco.
The event, now in its 14th year, has become so popular that organizers had to add a second ball tonight.
The ballroom was packed Friday. There were elegantly set tables and lights hanging from the walls and ceiling. The daughters were given glow sticks to wear around their wrists and necks to make them shine extra bright too.
A live band filled the large room with music, and snacks were served.
Most of the attendees were dads with daughters in elementary or middle school.
But some dads brought their little girls who looked barely old enough to walk. There also were dads with gray hair and older daughters on their arms.
Some girls didn't bring their dads and instead came with a father figure such as an uncle or grandpa.
The idea behind the dance is to show girls how much the men in their lives care about them, said organizer Renae Quigley.
"By providing and an evening where (a girl) can build great memories with her father, we're hoping she'll grow to know what it means to be valued and loved and cherished and put on a pedestal," Quigley said.
That resonated with Alyson's dad.
Ralph said he hoped that taking his daughter to the dance would reinforce for her how much she means to him.
"It's something we can do together," he said. "My son and I share sports. That's something we have in common."
But Alyson isn't interested in sports in the same way, he said. However, she loves going to the dance.
The fifth-grader and her mom found the red dress she wore Friday on Craigslist. Alyson got silver high heels, some sparkly jewelry and a tiara to complete the look.
Her dad gave her a corsage of red roses to wear on her wrist.
The father and daughter went to the ball last year and had a great time, they said. Alyson loved the bright lights and the music.
"There was some old music for dads and some new music for the kids," she said.
The father and daughter even hit the dance floor, although Alyson said that when it comes to dancing, "I'm better than my dad."
The Blairs were joined at the ball Friday by about 1,500 other fathers and daughters. About the same number is expected at the second ball tonight. There are no tickets left.
On Friday, dads and daughters entered the ball via a red carpet that was lined with movie posters.
Most of the girls wore sparkly dresses and high heels. Some of the dads had on tuxedos, and others were more casual in khakis or jeans. A few dads had on cowboy boots and hats.
Craig Tidrick of Pasco wore a tuxedo T-shirt, the same one he's worn to the dance the past few years. His daughter, Taylor, 12, a seventh-grader, wore a short black-and-white dress with sneakers.
"All of my friends are here, there's good music and fun dancing," she said.
"It's a lot of fun," added her dad.
The ball is put on by Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities, but not everyone who attends is a member of the Kennewick church. The event is open to the whole community, Quigley said.
After Alyson finished getting ready for the dance at home, her dad took her out for an Italian dinner. They arrived at TRAC just before the band started playing.
Alyson was wearing a striking white shawl over her red dress and the corsage from her dad.
At first, she and Ralph stood by the dance floor and watched the other fathers and daughters twirl and jump and sway to the music.
But before long -- even though Alyson had joked that her dad needed to work on his moves -- they started to dance.
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