Project Outcomes 

• The first record of a Winter Dance Party commemorative event from the perspective of the February Family, providing invaluable personal accounts and action-oriented insights for the Surf Ballroom's archives and future heritage interpretation and programming initiatives. The Surf Speaks is a multi-media account consisting of photos, videos and digital copies of memorabilia.

• Inaugural research to illustrate how personal experiences, emotional attachments to place and feelings of musical and environmental nostalgia drive new and continued stewardship and relevance of interpreted music heritage sites. The Surf Speaks is a prototype for future field studies in assessing audience-environment interaction and resulting preservation activity at interpreted popular music heritage sites. It also adds further credibility to growing public support for changes in historic preservation policies and practices that prioritize the participation of citizens and reflect human capital and emotional intelligence. 

• New material to contribute to various news/media outlets to benefit public education and outreach in the areas of American popular music, historic preservation, music education, arts advocacy, economic revitalization and the social sciences.

• Publication in the book Bandstand Diaries: The Philadelphia Years 1956 to 1963 (2016) by Coney Island Press.

• The Surf Speaks "Class of 2016" autographed banner contributed to the Surf Ballroom Museum.

• The first This Place Matters group photo at the Surf Ballroom for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

• This Place Matters banner and group photo signed by Jerry Allison contributed to the Surf Ballroom Museum.

• Exhibit for Buddy Holly 80th birthday event at the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association Museum.

• Exclusive video interview with 1959 Winter Dance Party emcee Bob Hale for The Airplay Channel.

• Acknowledgement in the book Ritchie Valens: His Guitars and Music (2019) by Hal Leonard. 

• Publication in the book Remembering Popular Music's Past: Heritage-History-Memory (2019) by Anthem Press.

• Publication in the article "The State of Rock 'n' Roll" (2021) in the 50th edition of Vintage Rock Magazine. 

• Interview excerpt with Bob Hale published in Ritchie Valens 80th birthday issue (2021) by Vintage Rock.

​

The following slideshow, first displayed as part of the Buddy 80 exhibit, offers a glimpse into the resulting narrative from the many questionnaires and media received from participants. It explores how personal life experiences, emotional attachments to place and associated feelings of musical and environmental nostalgia motivate and sustain the Winter Dance Party legacy.