During the Clinton Shake at Dairy Queen, "Balloon Man Smitty" delighted locals with his balloon art. (Lauren Williams/Sampson Independent)

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Dairy Queen patrons joined the latest dance craze, the Harlem Shake, on Saturday and helped the Dairy Queen make their own Clinton Shake video. (Lauren Williams/Sampson Independent)

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Billy Peterson, owner of Clinton's Dairy Queen, gets everyone ready to do Clinton's version of the Harlem Shake dance. The Clinton Shake event this past Saturday was part of the Dairy Queen's 60th anniversary celebration. (Lauren Williams/Sampson Independent)

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Many locals came out to enjoy some sweet treats during the Dairy Queen's Clinton Shake event this past Saturday. (Lauren Williams/Sampson Independent)

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Inspired by the most recent dance craze, the Harlem Shake, Clinton’s Dairy Queen held its own local version of the phenomenon called the Clinton Shake this past Saturday afternoon as part of its 60th anniversary celebration.

“Every time I’d go on Facebook I’d see a new Harlem Shake video posted, and I thought it would a fun thing for our town to do,” shared Billy Peterson, owner of the Dairy Queen.

Around 80 people came out to indulge in Dairy Queen’s sweet treats and to show off some sweet dance moves, which were filmed in order to create a YouTube video.

“We’re getting our video edited right now and the goal is to have it done by the middle of the week,” said Peterson. “When it’s finished, we’re going to upload it to YouTube so that everyone in town can see it and enjoy it, and we’re going to have a link for it on our Facebook page.”

Hitting the dance floor was only part of the Clinton Shake festivities. Patrons were also treated to ballon art by Carlton Smith or “Balloon Man Smitty” as he is known. “He was a huge hit, just fantastic,” said Peterson. “We’ve been getting lots of calls about him. He will definitely be coming back.”

Since Clinton’s Dairy Queen is celebrating its 60th year, many more fun events are scheduled such as a cake contest in April and a huge 60th birthday party in May. “The Clinton Shake was a good kickoff for the summer and was kind of a practice run for May which we want to be really big,” said Peterson. “We’re planning to have a cookout, some fireworks, and lots more.”

As always, “we are a family-oriented business so it’s all very clean and safe. We want the whole family to come out,” Peterson added. “We had a good showing of kids on Saturday.”

One of the best ways to keep up with all of the Dairy Queen’s happenings is to like them on Facebook, reminded Peterson. “We have a broad Facebook group with over 2,100 likes,” noted Peterson. “It’s where we talk to people and get a lot of ideas.”

Lauren Williams can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 117 or via email at lwilliams@civitasmedia.com.