Smithfield Senior Citizens Have A Blast At Their Bal

The Stake Center gymnasium never looked so good. As the city's elderly citizens flocked to the church on Friday night, instead of the usual basketball court they found a dining room and a dance floor, decorated elaborately in red, white and blue.

The gym's magical transformation was made by Smithfield's youth council. Youth Council Mayor Angela Wells says the Senior's Ball has become one of their annual service projects. Invitations were sent out to every Smithfield resident over age 75, she says, as well to members of the city's fire and police departments.

This year, the event was themed a "Hero's Ball" so the city's heroes could be honored along with the seniors, and the two groups could have a chance to mingle.

Wells says not too many people responded to their invitations. "I've been pretty stressed out the past few days. I had nightmares that nobody came."

Still, she says, they set up around 200 chairs, and much to her delight, seniors dressed in their finest, and firemen and police officers in full uniform filled nearly every seat.

The evening began with a welcome from Wells and Mayor Ray Winn. Youth Council Advisor Kris Monson introduced the 55-member youth council to the audience and encouraged them to get acquainted.

"Get to know these kids," she said. "They're great kids -- they are the future."

Dinner was provided by the Lion's Club. Club member Dan Jensen says he and 11 others began working at noon to prepare the meal of mashed potatoes and gravy, and roast pork.

"This is our third year doing this," he said. "It's one of our service projects we do. We do a lot of stuff like this."

The guests agreed that the meal was thoroughly enjoyable -- in fact, many said it was their favorite part of the event.

"It was a wonderful, wonderful meal," said Ruth Pitcher. "Delicious," added her husband Robert.

As the audience enjoyed their cobbler dessert, they were treated to a brief program of patriotic music and dance routines. Then the Rendell Seamons Orchestra struck up the band and the floor was open for dancing. Wells chose an elderly gentleman for her partner, and soon the floor was filled with the old and young alike swaying and twirling to the familiar big band songs.

Rula Smart chuckled as she told about the two young boys who hovered behind her and her friend for quite some time, but didn't dare ask them to dance. Although she had to leave early she says she wouldn't have missed the ball.

"This is my second time coming and it's been really fun," she said. "It was fun meeting the new policemen and talking to the mayor -- he's my old neighbor kid."

Golda and Keith McCombs said they also came last year, and that despite Keith's bad back, they still had fun.

"We had a wonderful time," said Golda. "It was special."

Etta Federico was full of praise for the youth council and their efforts.

"Tonight was real well-organized, and everybody was taken care of real well," she said. "These are always nice."

By anyone's standards, the event did indeed run smoothly, and seemed to go off without a hitch.

Youth Council Advisor Janet Beck says preparation for the event has been easy for her and the other leaders.

"You'd think it would be crazy with over 50 teenagers trying to organize this, but it hasn't. These kids are the cream of the crop," she said.

About two months ago the youth council held an organizational meeting, and divided into committees, Beck says, and from there those committees have done basically everything from delivering invitations and planning the program to providing chauffeuring services, and setting up and taking down everything.

"It's been a very positive experience -- the kids have been great," she said. "We just kind of try and stay in the background and leave the leadership to them."

Being a member of the youth council is time consuming for the already busy kids, Beck says. In addition to many responsibilities, the members are required to attend a weekly meeting, enforced by a strict attendance policy.

But the rewards of their time and service do pay off, such as when an elderly woman beamed as a young man asked her to dance, or when an aged man sighed with contentment as he finished his first home-cooked meal in months.

Despite all the hard work, Wells saw the benefits as everything came together.

"I thought this was our funnest service project," she said. "I thought it turned out really well."

By Kelsie Clark