The dance was
held in Fife, Washington at Rocco “Mac”
Manza and Jimmy
Zarelli’s Century Ballroom (1406 54th Avenue East) on the old “Seattle – Tacoma Highway (U.S. 99), which
had opened back on December 29, 1934, and had been built to resemble the Washington State Pavilion at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. The benefit gig kicked
off at 9:00 pm with music performed by the host band, an eighteen-piece
ensemble led by Joe Rausch. Following that, eight bands would each take turns
playing for the assembled dancers from the main-stage located across the room (which
boasted a 20,000 square-foot dance-floor) – with Rausch’s band playing
additional songs between those 30-minute sets.
The competitors were bands led by: Auby Akins, Brad Bannon, Harold
Eaton, Louie Grenier, Ronald Isham, Stan Miskoski, Grady Morehead, and Sig
Thorson. The contest’s promoter, Al Paige, predicted that "a record crowd is
expected to be on hand to witness Lieut. Gov. Victor Meyers, head judge of the
affair, present the winning band with a beautiful" trophy at around 2:00
am. Alas, we may never learn who won the
battle – and thus, the title of "Champion of the Northwest" – as the Tacoma
newspapers don’t seem to have published a follow-up report, and I've thus far found no references to similar dances in subsequent years! The
Century, which went on to host massive dances into the 1950s featuring touring bands – including those led by such musical stars as Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Kay Kyser,
and the Lombardo brothers (Guy, Carmen, Lebert and Victor) – closed in 1956 and
the building burned in 1964.