Saturday, 11 March 2006

Let's dance! Why? Because! It's for the kids!
One of the biggest events of the year at Hope College concluded approximately two hours ago and the Major General Music was in the middle of all the excitement. That's right-put on your dancing shoes, some comfy clothes, and grab some friends to keep your spirits high-we're gonna dance! A lot! It'll be a marathon! A DANCE MARATHON!
Yes, the Major General Music forsook all other activities, including three excellent junior recitals, pulled on a pair of black scrubs, yellow shirt, and dancing shoes, grabbed his camera, and devoted approximately 13 hours total between Friday and Saturday for the kids! March 10 and 11 marked Hope College's "biggest party on campus," the seventh annual Dance Marathon. Among the things at the marathon besides the obvious dancing and very loud music included ping-pong, foosball, board games, craft projects, a giant inflatable slide, a moon walk, lots of food and drink for the dancers and moralers, Dance Dance Revolution, massages for the dancers (who must stay on their feet for all 24 hours), and color-coded t-shirts. The Major General Music chose to spend his time there as a yellow-shirted "moraler," looking after his white-shirted dancer who represented Student Congress. He kept her morale high by dancing with her, bringing her good (and helpful) presents, and playing board games too! After eight hours of fun and exhaustion, the Major General Music could call it a night (or morning since it was after 2 A.M. when he could leave his shift) and returned to his headquarters not completely coherent, where he collapsed into his chambers after a hot shower.
The next day meant sleeping as long as possible, prepping his dancing outfit, and returning to the Dance Marathon for the final two and a half hours. At the end, all the dancers, moralers, and Dance Marathon staff circled the gym so all the miracle families could thank them. Afterwards, the DVD synopsis of the marathon was shown and the grand money total raised for the DeVos Children's Hospital was revealed. How much? A whopping $112,670.89 for the kids, once again beating the target! After the event ended, the dancers were sent home to rest and the moralers were forced to stay behind and help with the clean-up efforts. The Major General Music assisted in breaking down the stage made of show choir-style risers, cutting the alien inflatables from the netting using a set of keys, and breaking down and moving many much boxen to the art gallery dungeon.
The Major General Music wasn't surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar people or folks that aren't really friends. No, the Bible Studs were VERY well-represented at Dance Marathon! The Hockey Stud's roommate, the Brownie Magician (yes, the same one who made brownies disappear in 5 seconds based on his own claims), was part of the Family Relations Committee, the Kind Bible Study Leader and the Shaggy Neighbor both took on the lofty challenges of being dancers, and the Online Bible Study Webmaster and the Major General Music both served as moralers. They were also visited by the Hockey Stud for awhile, although none of them know exactly what time he arrived or departed. You see, all the clocks are removed from the Dow Center so that no one knows what time it is and it keeps the dancers from getting too anxious. The Major General Music also encountered his roommate, neighbors, his mighty RA, his OA partner the Swimming Dude, Student Congress colleagues, one or two of his Orientation freshmen, a bunch of his "chapel friends" (good friends whom the Major General Music met at chapel and The Gathering) and the odd music colleague here and there.
Below are some pictures from Dance Marathon. Enjoy!

This year's theme was "Goin' Outta This World for the Kids!"

The Brownie Magician relates to one of the miracle children's siblings.

Claire, my dancer (on the right) plays a round of Zobmondo.

On our probably sixth slide together, we sort of lost the rug and had an interesting landing. My group's miracle child is sitting in front of me wearing white.

The Kind Bible Study Leader spent some time throwing around a football with various friends including the Shaggy Neighbor. Here he throws a long pass; if you look, you'll see the football in mid-flight. Woosh!

We beat the fundraising target!
Comments(4)
Sounds like fun. I suppose you're excused from our regular late night chat since this is a very good cause. Nice pictures too.
Oooo Zobmondo is a very fun game- I think that my friend Jennifer has it. Too bad she's in the U.P.
chickenlittle27
Of course they're nice pictures. They were taken with a good camera by a person who knows the camera very well.
Major_General_Music
Hollah!
strummingalong
yeah DM!!! i slept for a whooping 16 hours last night. that was quite a good time!
johnateson