Sock Hops returning for concert

Published 6:06 pm Monday, February 19, 2018

The Troup High School Alumni Association will host the Sock Hops in concert on Feb. 24 due to the popular demand for the band at one of the group’s biggest annual fundraisers.

This is the third year that the concert will be used as a fundraiser to help the alumni association raise funds for Troup High School, and event organizers said that they have received numerous requests to hear the band play more often.

“Once people come to it, they are like, ‘Man, I am so glad that I came. I can’t wait for them to come back,’” said Shane Frailey, alumni association president. “We are just looking for one little break to fill the whole place up. There has never been one person leave who didn’t say, ‘Let me know when they are coming back.”

The Sock Hops specialize in four-part harmony renditions of classics from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, including songs by The Eagles and The Temptations. For the alumni association though, the most important part of the show is what it can do for the students and teachers at Troup High School.

“We’ve benefited greatly from Troup High School, and it is just a movement on our part to return some of our investments that we were given,” said Ellis Cadenhead, former alumni association president. “It is just a great time. We have a good time doing it too.”

The alumni association has used money from previous fundraisers to host teacher appreciation events, assist teachers with projects, host a law enforcement appreciation event and purchase the sign in front of the school that is uses advertising dollars to bring in additional funding for the school.

“We have sponsored kids to go to the Rose Bowl Parade and the Macy’s Parade,” Frailey said. “We have sponsored canned food drives, band dinners, a teacher appreciation day, law enforcement appreciation luncheons.”

The Sock Hops concert is one of two fundraisers that the alumni association uses to raise money for the school. The other is the donkey basketball game, and all the money raised by both events goes back to the school, the teachers and the students at Troup High School.

“Every dollar goes back into the school in some form or fashion,” Cadenhead said.

The Sock Hops will perform at the Troup High Fine Arts Auditorium at 1920 Hamilton Road on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15 in advance and can be purchased at Troup High School, LaGrange Toyota, United Rental or by calling Cadenhead at (706) 884-5546.