The perfect date

At one o’clock Sunday in an extra classroom at Stone Belt Arc of Monroe County, 20 women simultaneously pinched, plucked, applied make-up and painted their finger and toes. \n“It was girl central here,” said Bitta DeWees, director of Monroe County day services for Stone Belt Arc. “There was a nervous kind of anticipation.” \nAll the preening was for Stone Belt Arc’s Winter Wonderland formal dance, held Sunday afternoon in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union. Stone Belt Arc serves adults with developmental disabilities and this year’s dance was the first to be held away from the group’s offices. It was open to clients and guests from all of Stone Belt’s affiliated offices in Monroe, Jennings, Bartholomew, Jackson, Lawrence and Owen counties.\n“Everyone was saying things like, ‘How do I look,’ and ‘I can’t wait,’” said DeWees. “You could really tell it was a big deal.” \nFor many clients, the event was a chance to go out, a rare opportunity for some. \n“For my sister, this is an opportunity to do something she wouldn’t normally do,” said Jaema Kelly, who attended the dance with her sister, Stone Belt client Jennifer Duke. “It seems to be a highlight for her.” \nStone Belt ladies weren’t the only guests gussied up for the event. \n“Smell my hair, I took two showers today,” said client Nathan Priest. “I even shaved. And I got this suit and this flower. It’s attached to me.” \nClients like Priest enjoyed the chance to be a part of a typical social situation. Between dancing, he told his friends to read his name in the paper tomorrow. \nO2R Blues Band, an acronym for Open to Ridicule, played classic rock and roll blues covers like Sam & Dave’s ’67 hit “Soul Man” and Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper’s “Knock on Wood.” \nThe biggest thrill of the night for clients Frank Porter and Betsy Higgins was being crowned King and Queen of the dance. \n“I’m just so excited,” Higgins said before being ushered to her stretch limo. The couples that won awards at the event received free limo rides, thanks to a donation made by an anonymous staff member. \nCommunity donations provided free dresses and suits for many clients as well as Mary Kay make-up samples, food at the buffet line and the band on stage. Erin Parks, one of the Indianapolis 500 Festival Princesses, even donated time before an internship event to help women get ready.\n“It was great to have so many women so excited,” Parks said. “The smiles and the energy are contagious.” \nAnn Dininger, a team leader with Stone Belt’s Monroe County Day Services, said she appreciated the help from volunteers who attended the event. Dininger felt it was important that the dance attract more than just handicapped adults.\n“I’m seeing people who volunteered with us for this event just coming in now and volunteering,” she said. “And that’s what this is really about.” \nWhile the rafters echoed Jimi Hendrix and a man said to a woman, “Let’s do some wheelchair dancing,” Leslie Green, chief executive officer for Stone Belt Arc, said she felt the event was exactly what it should be. \n“People have just gone all out,” Green said. “We’ll want to do something like this again.”