That was Gen. Colin Powell in Georgetown Friday night, sporting a tight black T-shirt under his white dinner jacket, oozing cool from behind dark glasses and slapping the high-five to buddies in the same garb.
The occasion was Best Friends' sold-out bash at the Four Seasons, featuring a '50s theme that posed the following question to its guests: Do you remember when rock was young?
Most, such as former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, along with his wife, Elayne, the organization's founder, not only remembered the days, but could still tear up the dance floor with a fancy step or two they learned back in high school.
'We dance all the time, but we dance new stuff, too. We keep up,' said Mr. Bennett, who noted that he and fellow writer C. DeLores Tucker occasionally criticize pop culture in the press. 'We pull out of it what we like. We like to be hip, but we don't like to be stupid.'
Mr. Bennett's comments encapsulated the mission of his wife's organization, which teaches young girls, starting in the fifth grade, that it is OK to say no to sex, drugs and alcohol and to replace those temptations with more wholesome activities. Started in 1987, Best Friends now mentors 3,000 girls in 12 states.
'We're celebrating when rock was younger, sweeter and more decent,' said Mrs. Bennett, recalling an era when 'the girls set the standards and the guys listened.'
That was when the message was, as Mrs. Bennett put it, 'Girl, you can love the boy, but keep your self-respect - don't just give in.'
Mrs. Bennett, like many of her guests, hitched a ride on her trip down memory lane by recycling her prom dress, a black-and-pink satin number that she pulled from her attic, shortened and updated with a matching black satin stole.
For once, the men worked just as hard on their own attire. America Online CEO Steve Case chose jeans, aviator glasses and a leather bomber jacket (yes, with AOL inscribed on the back). In keeping with the ensemble, he engaged in onstage high jinks during a celebrity version of 'Name That Tune,' at one point accusing WPGC-FM DJ Donnie Simpson of rigging the contest when he pointed to Mr. Bennett and asked, 'Isn't his wife involved in this?'
But Mr. Bennett's team, rounded out by Mr. Powell (referred to as 'Coley,' his old nickname, throughout the night) and Judy Woodruff, seemed to need no help in recalling tunes of yore. 'Coley' even warbled, 'Bang Bang Lulu,' the title of one of the songs in question, causing Mr. Bennett to fret about his public image. Nonetheless, the threesome identified song after song, triumphing over foes Paul Berry and Kathleen Matthews on Mr. Case's team and prompting the CEO to bolt across the stage at one point to smack Mr. Powell on the head.
'I'm starting to think I'm on the Jerry Springer show here,' Mr. Simpson said, although guests seemed to welcome the antics. 'Nobody's hiding here, they're all just having a great time,' said Jayne Ikard, merely pointing out the obvious when she added, 'This is not your typical Washington dinner.'
But Mr. Powell said the atmosphere of the evening, which successfully matched a $100,000 grant from Avon, was only in keeping with the organization's message that it's OK to enjoy good, clean fun.
'What we teach these young women is how to become young ladies, and there are some things ladies do and some things ladies don't do,' he said. 'Ladies are not hos, they're not tramps, they're not something to be abused, they're precious. Being precious means believing you are precious, acting accordingly and doing the right things and staying away from the wrong things. There's more than enough time to take care of whatever's inside of you. Don't let a boy talk you into something before it's time.'
