So many volunteers made this event a success, one Sunday school class took the time to decorate photo sleeves with hearts, glitter, and other embellishments so that when the photos were printed they had a fabulous memento to take home as a reminder of the evening. Yet another class came & kept the popcorn popping & distributed bags to all the guests. A juice, coffee, cookie and other treats table rounded out another station. The DJ, a principal from a Spring Lake Park school, was absolutely amazing, he had inflatable guitars, microphones, hats, and other props that the attendees thought were the best!
All dolled up we headed for the Little Mountain Elementary school (Brie's old school) and set up. The dance started at 7pm and went until 9:30pm, with over 75 already registered & a maximum capacity of 100, it was destined to be a great evening. We would have no idea how great though!
The job of corralling everyone towards the photo station was NOT an easy task! Conner was sporting his black jacket and everyone seemed to be drawn to this little guy, which was good because I think we only had one group break through the line and bypass the photo booth.
Watching the expressions on some of their faces when they found out they were going to get their photo taken was just priceless! They were blown away and SOOO excited! "Do we have to pay for it?" "Wow, I better practice my smile" "Good thing I wore my best shirt" were many of the remarks. Watching the groups come in, the beat of the music already pounding, many were wiggling before they could get their coats off! Next year a good camera that takes action shots will be a necessity! Thank heavens we brought a bench which forced them to sit still for the briefest of moments.
Deep down, we had a selfish goal. For years I've watched many (my Mom especially) in amazement reach out and carry on one sided conversations and display incredible gentleness towards people with even the most extreme disabilities. I guess through years of working in a nursing home taught her how to do that, Nana as well via her years as a nurse has that gift too. We, on the other hand did not get that exposure and we find our selves feeling helpless to communicate. So this event filled a huge need in our hearts to learn, teach, and just give back to a large part of our community that is so very often, well just forgotten. We desperately want Brie and Conner to grow up with such awareness.
How did it go? Well let's just say, tremendously well. Watching Brienna joining in and dancing with all the guests just made us smile, she has such a soft heart and even dragged sometimes unwilling partners to the dance floor for the slower songs was just the best! Conner kept to himself in a corner playing with his cars when all of a sudden the beat must have called to him and he marched out onto the dance floor and jammed with another boy for the rest of the evening. They both had the inflatable air guitars, he & his new friend were so dang fun to watch, he also had to show off his break dancin' skills which just had us awestruck! He'd share microphones and guitars with whomever would take one and didn't leave the dance floor till clean up.....
To have volunteers come up afterwards with tears in their eyes telling us how amazing our children are, how they danced all night with everyone & how it just moved their hearts, believe me, it was so humbling! "You're doing such a great thing with your kids, they are so unbelievable, I know they don't know me but can I hug them?" The Lord works in such amazing ways and we walked away from that evening wondering who was more blessed by this night, us or all the awesome people that came! Next year Brienna said she's bringing Alex as her date, definitely!!!!!
Brienna & Conner we're so PROUD of you!!!!
Brie dancin' with the gals...
Conner & the guitar, wish his buddy would have held still long enough to take a photo, like I said, next year we'll have be sure to bring a camera with a much faster shutter speed!!!!!
Our fearless leader, Tracey W., whose own daughter was the inspiration for this event is our church's community outreach coordinator (gal in the purple sweater). She is truly an inspiration and has battled many demons in her life and won! Both my kids just run up to her, she is just one of those people, and we are truly blessed to know her.......
You just can't imagine some of the awesome moves displayed here tonight! Music is such great therapy, it just touches your soul!
Lovin' the spotlight!
One last dance before clean up, Conner showing off...
Prizes were rounded up and donated by local businesses & as they registered each person received a ticket. When the drawings started, a hush went over the crowd, a race to find their tickets ensued. The first winner jumped up from her seat, screamed all the way to the front and grabbed the biggest teddy bear on the table & ran back shouting "I WON, I WON, I WON!" and I mean shouted! A person would not have believed the smiles could grow bigger than they already were, but they did. Brienna ran all through the crowd helping those that couldn't read with their numbers, "nope not this time" or "darn, don't worry there's more" were some of the encouragements she'd give them. No one asked her to do this, after a while they just naturally lined up and she ran back & forth making sure the winners were found after each number was called. A great friend of hers that she made during her theatrical debuts, Johanna, was also there to help, what a pair they made!
No comments:
Post a Comment