Patrick Swayze's Long-Lasting Impact on Lake Lure

"Do you love me? (I can really move) Do you love me? (I'm in the groove) Ah do you love? (Do you love me) Now that I can dance?"

These are the words to the chorus of "Do You Love Me," a 1962 hit for the Contours.

It's one of the great songs from the soundtrack of the 1987 movie "Dirty Dancing."

The greatest of the actors in that film has died.

Tonight the Carolinas mourn the passing of Patrick Swayze.

It was his "Johnny Castle" who fell for Jennifer Grey's "Frances 'Baby' Houseman" as "Johnny" taught her how to dirty dance.

Much of the movie was filmed in Western North Carolina at Lake Lure and Asheville (Grove Park Inn).

When I learned of Swayze's passing tonight, I began trying to reach town officials in Lake Lure.

Town Commissioner Russ Pitts had deep appreciation for how Swayze and "Dirty Dancing" gave Lake Lure a popularity and identity that has lasted more than 20 years.

"Patrick and the 'Dirty Dancing' movie had a big impact on our town," Pitts told me. "It put us on the map. It put Lake Lure out front. We have a number of people who come to town just to see where the movie was filmed. We have the tour of the lake, and one of the first stops is the cove where 'Dirty Dancing' was filmed. It's had a positive impact. A lot of people who were involved in the film come back. The impact of 'Dirty Dancing' has never waned. When you talk to people and say you're from Lake Lure, they recognize it for 'Dirty Dancing.'"

Pitts tells me the restaurant "Larkins on the Lake" was a favorite of the actors when they were filming the movie. He says dollar bills signed by Swayze and other stars are on the walls at Larkins.

I also heard from Town Commissioner Bill Beason: “I’m certainly sorry to hear about Patrick Swayze’s death. (The movie ‘Dirty Dancing’) has meant a tremendous amount to the recognition of Lake Lure throughout the U.S. Everybody we talk to around the U.S., when we say we’re from Lake Lure, they immediately say that’s where ‘Dirty Dancing’ was filmed. Tourists, visitors and friends who come here want to ride by on the boat and see where ‘Dirty Dancing’ was filmed. It’s certainly been a big benefit to Lake Lure tourism and a great thrill for the people who live here and a great asset to be connected to such a great movie and such a great person.”

My wife and I have taken the Lake Lure boat tour twice this year alone, and Pitts is right, tourists perk up and look closely when the guides point out the cove where Swayze and Grey's characters practiced the lift of their dance routine in the water. Guides point out the water was very cold at the time, and the scene included no closeups because the actors' lips had turned blue.

Swayze did other movies I enjoyed as well. "Red Dawn" saw Swayze and high school buddies take on invading communist troops. "Ghost" was a good tear jerker with spiritual qualities. My wife loved him in the Civil War mini-series "North and South."

But I especially appreciate "Dirty Dancing." My family watched that movie over and over and played the soundtrack when our daughters were little.

My wife and girls probably dreamed of dancing with Johnny Castle.

The manmade Carolina lake Swayze and his fellow dancers put on the map will forever echo the sounds of people enjoying a dance to the great hits of the late fifties and early sixties.