by Olive Pea
HARVEST DANCE 2023 WAS A BLOWOUT SUCCESS
This year’s Harvest Dance was the most attended dance of year (possibly ever) with over 230 costumed enthusiasts in attendance! It was a slightly overcast Saturday evening (4:30pm, to be precise) when the volunteers arrived for setup.
In an hour, lights, electric candles, bunting, and other decorations lined the walls; folding tables were placed in the kitchen, craft room, and near the front door for the registration desk. The DJ equipment was set up on a stage to one side of the main room, with orange and gold silk curtains lining the wall behind as a backdrop. On the side opposite the DJ booth was a secondary stage that was smaller in size, and that stage was used for photos. The backdrop depicted a dirt pathway lined with trees whose leaves were stained yellow, orange, and red from fall’s arrival. Next to it were some fall photo props that could be used when taking pictures.
In the kitchen there were four folding tables adorned with festive fall themed table cloths arranged in pairs. One pair was in the back, and contained food such as pizza and donuts. Two people stood in between the tables to serve the food. In front was the other pair of tables, and the two servers stood behind them. The front pair of tables contained packaged food such as Cheetos, Goldfish Crackers, gummy bears, and juice boxes to name a few. On the kitchen counters, there was bottled water, hot cocoa, and apple cider.
In the craft room, a large table was covered in one big, black table cloth. A few folding chairs were arranged around it. The tables had markers, pencils, crayons, coloring pages, and fun Halloween stickers. You could access the room through two doorways, which made the foot traffic flow better.
In the parking lot, two volunteers directed parking cars to parking spots. The area in the parking lot closest to the building was roped off, and monitored by the parking lot volunteers. In the roped-off section of the parking lot, games such as mini golf and giant Jenga were set up. Next to the games another folding table, with folding chairs surrounding it, was placed for additional seating.
At 5:30pm, all the setup volunteers had 30 minutes to get into their costumes. At 6:00pm, the TVE members that were attending the event started arriving at the doors. Most attendees brought more food for the kitchen such as cupcakes, cookies, and even more snacks, which came in handy for replacements on the food tables when the snack supply was depleted.
Once the bulk of the attendees had arrived, the lights dimmed and the music started. Some kids grabbed glow sticks from the registration booth, some completed the scavenger hunt, and a few of the younger kids drew pictures in the craft room. But most of the attendees were either getting food in the kitchen or dancing on the dance floor.
Around 7:00pm, a costume parade took place. Everyone joined a line (which was very long) and followed one of the volunteers all around the building in a snake-like pattern. At the end of the parade, everyone stood in the center of the dance floor for a group picture.
Once it was almost 30 minutes until clean up, the DJ’s playlist started running out of time. A volunteer walked around with a clipboard and asked for song requests. Once the playlist finished, the lights came back on. The remaining attendees were all asked to help clean up. Everyone started tearing down the decorations, collapsing the folding chairs and tables, and packing up the DJ equipment.
Once all of the decorations were put back into their boxes, those who brought them packed them back into their cars. Everyone was ready to leave because it was now 10:30pm. Everyone said their goodbyes, and drove out of the parking lot.
The Harvest Dance was very enjoyable this year, and this event was only possible because of the time and effort that our volunteers and TVE leaders put into this event. Thank you. And great thanks to all of those who attended the event! TVE hopes that everyone enjoyed this event, and can’t wait to see you next time!
The Lighthouse 