Valentine's Day dance banned due to proximity to a church

Monday, February 13, 2017
Valentine's Day dance cancelled because it's close to a church
The sign outside the Henryetta church of Christ stands empty near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

HENRYETTA, Okla. -- A Valentine's Day dance in Oklahoma has been canceled because a town ordinance bans dancing within 500-feet of a church.

The dance was scheduled for Feb. 11 for anyone in the small town of Henryetta, but the venue holding the dance is 300 feet away from a church, making the dance illegal.

"It's one of those ordinances that was passed long before I ever came, and we have no interest in enforcing it," police chief Steve Norman told KTUL.

The organizer of the dance called off the event. Her husband is the city attorney.

Now the city council will meet to consider taking the measure off the books, but that meeting isn't until the end of the month.