Zion Methodist hosts first winter wonderland dance
BUFFALO TWP — After getting their hair and makeup done, guests at Saturday’s first Enchanted Christmas Snowball dance hosted at Zion Methodist Community Church picked up boutonnieres and corsages before joining the dance floor.
The winter wonderland dance was organized for community members with disabilities, their families and friends by congregants of the church.
Initially proposed four years ago, the dance was postponed during the pandemic.
“This year, it’s time,” one of the event’s organizers, Tim Saxman, said.
Becky Ross, a co-organizer, said about 150 people registered for the dance.
The event welcomed guests over the ages of 14 from Freeport, Knoch, Butler and Quaker Valley school districts, as well as invitees from Pittsburgh, Saxman said.
There was no age limit to register, Saxman said — instead, the event was aimed at people “14 to 114.” During the prior week, the church hosted a holiday party for those under the age of 14, he said.
As he made final preparations ahead of Saturday’s event, Saxman he was ecstatic to watch people stream in and have fun.
“We just want to have special needs adults come together, have a prom, have dinner and have a great time,” he said.
Saxman said he has two sons on the autism spectrum.
“This is also going to be helpful for the helpers and the sponsors,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know how to act around special needs adults. They’re almost kind of timid and scared. This is just a way of being together and saying, ‘You know what? You’re a blessing,’ and a chance to have fun all together.”
The event, which Saxman described as “a team effort,” took six weeks of planning, Ross said. It was free to attend with a donation of food, dresses and hair and makeup services. More than 30 volunteers lent a helping hand, Ross said.
“We have been so blessed,” she said.
Guests wishing to have hair and makeup done before the event could stop in earlier and spend time with beauticians from Kittanning Beauty Academy and local hairdressers.
Amy Hudak, a hairdresser in Slippery Rock, and Jessica Dawson, a hairdresser in Gibsonia, said the services can be a “huge confidence booster.”
“It’s not often that I feel like most treat themselves to something like this,” Hudak said. “Tonight is a night for them to really feel beautiful and have fun.”
Hudak and Dawson are mothers to children on the autism spectrum. They said the dance is a chance for people to be themselves and be comfortable.
“Being around like-minded people, whether you’re on the spectrum or not ... when you’re in that environment where you have to be this certain person all day long, but then you find people you can be yourself with, it makes the world better,” Dawson said.
Saxman said Zion Methodist Community Church “is very much open to special needs adults.”
“This is a ministry we would like to do on a local level,” he said.
