NEWS & PRESS 

Dancing the night away

By Chris Boron
Observer-Reporter
04/24/2008

            Spencer Fulton, an 8-year-old second grader at Northwest Elementary School, went on his first “date” in his life on Saturday, April 19.

            He had prearranged to meet his date, a young girl from his class, ahead of time, although he would never admit that to his friends, said his mother, Molly Fulton.

            “He’s been talking about tonight for months,” Molly said. “He’s been so excited.”

            The arrangements had been made to meet on the dance floor around six o’clock. Spencer waited with hope on the perimeter of the dance floor refusing to dance until his date arrived.

            Just as in standard female fashion, she was late. But the moment Spencer saw her, he handed her a flower and together they took their spots on the dance floor.

            Then, in crazy second-grader non-structured form, leaving all inhibitions or expectations out the door, the two started dancing and sweating it out to the Isley Brother’s hit “Shout.” They spent the rest of the evening dancing the night away.

            Spencer and his date were two of nearly 140 children who attended the Knights & Princesses Dance held at the Elm Ridge Party Center in Canal Fulton on Saturday evening.

            The event was sponsored by the Northwest Elementary School PTO and Jacob’s Gift – a non-profit organization created by Joanna and Corey Metsker in memory of their son.

            The children, who ranged from preschool age to second and third graders, were encouraged to dress in their best attire and enjoy an evening of dancing and fun.

            Little girls wandered around the party center with poofy dresses swaying and tiaras in their hair. Some of the young men donned capes and crowns and imagined they were knights and kings for the evening. Even some of the mothers got out their old prom and bridesmaid dresses to join in on the fun.

            The event was not considered a fundraiser although it cost each child $5 to attend to cover costs of the event. Instead, the evening was just about getting the Northwest Elementary families together for a fun evening.

            “We just wanted parents to come to hang out with their kids and have fun and dance,” said PTO President, Joanna Metsker.

            She and her two daughters spent the day at the hair salon getting their hair done for the dance, and they each had on a glamorous dress worthy of a royal ball.

            “I’m ready to have fun and dance with my kids!” Metsker shouted over the music as she scoped the dance floor.

            DJ Jake Matthews kept the dance floor crowded with bouncing little bodies and joined in every once in a while to teach the children classic dances such as the Bunny Hop. The dance floor got particularly crowded once he started playing hit songs from Disney favorites, High School Musical and Hannah Montana.

            Billy Matsumoto, a 20-year-old Cleveland native, performed magic and juggling tricks for the children after they tired of dancing for an hour. Matsumoto recently gained fame on the “Ellen Degeneres Show” and “Good Morning America” for his juggling skills. The children found him just as amusing.

            Professional photographs were taken free of charge by Studio Rhodes Photography for the children to take home.

            The evening ended at nine o’clock with several parents carrying out their exhausted and happy children.

Pedal for a Purpose Results!

 We sponsored Pedal for a Purpose to benefit Echoing Ridge Residential Center on Sunday, October 7, 2007.  The event raised $7,000 towards their goal of buying a bus to transport their special needs residents.  The weather was great, sunny and 85.  10 Varsity football players came and volunteered at our Jacob’s Gift booth to have whipped cream pies thrown at them, blown up footballs squirted off their heads with squirt-guns and huge buckets of water dumped on them.  They were great sports and I really appreciated their volunteering.  Echoing Ridge sponsored a carnival and people came to bike and hike.  It was a lot of fun and I laughed so much.  It was great to see one of our events get underway and it really made us proud of what we’re going to do with Jacob’s Gift.

Canal Fulton Signal, July 26, 2007

Akron Beacon Journal, Sept 24 2007