Despite what some believe, the movie ‘Footloose’ was not based on this Barry County town.
By Chad Plein
Published: Apr. 19, 2024 at 10:43 AM CDT|Updated: 3 hours ago
PURDY, Mo. (KY3) - It’s prom season all across the Ozarks.
From the large cities to the small towns, everyone is getting ready. Buying the right dress, renting the perfect tux, and getting ready for the big night.
The celebration is a little unique for one town in our Ozarks Life whose history does not define its community.
At Purdy High School, we were able to get a sneak peek of the prom planning committee’s dresses for this weekend.
“We all get to dress up our best and you get to have a great time with your friends,” junior Gracie Patton said.
“Get to eat beforehand,” junior Leanna Moore added. “Sometimes get ready together and then just go and dance and have fun.”
But for previous generations, planning a school prom was a challenge.
“I’ve heard a bit about that,” junior Marlene Villa said. “I find it really interesting.”
“My aunt used to tell me that ‘Footloose’ was based on this town,” junior Rosa Schad said. “For the longest time. I believed it.”
‘Footloose’ is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. While the movie was not based on Purdy, it was similar but not unique to this Barry County town.
Many schools banned dancing in the United States throughout history. But this one saw a long legal battle play out to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It is a public school and not a church school and we feel that this is very wrong,” Purdy parent Joan Fox said in 1986 when the lawsuit was filed against the school board on behalf of their kids.
“It’s part of our history but it doesn’t define the community as a whole,” David Mareth said. “It’s a beautiful community, I love it here.”
Mareth was on the lawsuit when he was a high school student. Looking back now as an adult he admits he was just a “hormonal teenager.”
“It was a situation where we had two groups of people who were very set in their ways of what they believed,” Mareth said looking back. “And the truth of the matter is they were both right.”
“The school board was right in the fact that the school board should be the law of the land. The other group was right in that they were petitioning to try to get something done that they wanted to do. Or perhaps where they were both wrong, was the board should have stuck with ‘that is our policy’ and left it at that. Where the other group possibly messed up was, they should have instead of trying to force an issue they should have worked on on making sure that they were putting people in who were trying to do what spoke their voice.”
Two years after the lawsuit was filed, a U.S. District Judge issued a ruling overturning the dance ban.
In December of 1988, the high school held its first dance. But months later, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the judge’s ruling.
By 1990, the parents filed their appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. The High Court rejected the arguments.
The interest in the case makes headlines across the nation.
“The beautiful part about this is unlike the political environment that we’re in today, which in my belief is tearing the country kind of at the seams,” Mareth said, “that didn’t do that here.”
“This is a community that looks out for each other. They definitely had their beliefs on what they wanted to do. But if either one of those groups would have been in trouble for anything, the other would have stepped up without a doubt; without hesitation to help those people.”
Eventually, new school board members came in and Purdy now has three dances a year now.
As for prom, these kids are celebrating it the same way the earlier generations did. They go to an event center off campus. The only difference is that now they are school-sponsored.
“It gives you something to look forward to like something to do,” Rosa said.
“The crowning ceremony; that’s always fun,” Gracie said.
“I get to spend time with my friends as we go to hang out at prom,” Leanna said.
“This is a new experience; your high school prom,” Marlene added.
“At the end of the day,” Mareth said, “we just have an innocence here that I hope is what is more the focus than a dance issue that really didn’t turn out to be much of an issue at all.”
This past week was the 34th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting the case.
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