Starry Night
AUGUST 2023
Starry Night Summer Formal
Get ready to feast your eyes on a lot of pictures. This is our Starry Night Summer Formal, the follow up event to the first ever Summer Prom held last year at our Day Program. Yes, you will learn all the details of the work that went into this event, but the pictures do more for describing the day than words ever could. Let’s revise that first sentence then: get ready to see a lot of pictures of smiles, dancing, and uninhibited fun.
When we held a Universal prom for the first time last year, it was said by both clients and staff to be their favorite event in the history of the company. Looking back with some perspective, there are obvious reasons for this. First, more than any other Fun Friday event, the summer formal requires the collaboration of every department and individual within UI Rehab; this year’s Starry Night Formal required planning months in advance.
Here are some of the responsibilities that needed oversight: designing the balloon art, building multiple backdrops for photos, creating a menu and booking the food catering, creating and printing custom invitations, ordering decorations and tableware for the dining hall, booking the DJ, securing formal wear for all clients, assigning people to work the beauty bar and as photographers, and ordering all photobooth and prom accessories. We’ll stop the list there, but you get the point – an event like this is made up of many moving parts and moving people.
GET UP OFF OF THAT THING!
James Brown
But oh, did those people move. What that list of tasks simply meant is that we had to rely upon the therapists, families, Residential Managers, DSP staff, Activity Specialists, our TRU department, and multiple outside vendors to ensure this was a dream day for the clients.
From a staff perspective, the pride of work accomplished is what makes the day special. For anyone who has been involved in a large team project, you know the fulfillment and excitement that comes from seeing that project through from the very beginning to the end. Collaborating with all manner of people to achieve a shared desired result is a worthy accomplishment in itself. And what exactly was that end result we aimed for? An unforgettable day for everyone involved.
From the client perspective, it’s clear why they impatiently wait for this event. From the moment they awake in the morning, they sense that the day is special. They are first greeted by their elegant dresses or their crisp shirts and ties. By the time they arrive at the program, they are being pampered at the Beauty Bar with make-up artists, hairdressers, and men’s grooming kits. There are backdrops being hung, cameras snapping pictures, and all the while the staff and therapists are slowly replacing their scrubs with dresses and suits of their own.
Looking around the Day Program on a day like this would leave you confused at the distinction between staff and clients. That was our goal – for the clients to feel exceedingly normal, where there is no difference between themselves and anyone else. The clients very rarely get the chance to dress up and attend a formal dance (and by rarely, we mean never). Sorry, hold that thought – excuse us for a moment…
START DANCE BREAK⬇️
END DANCE BREAK.
Okay, where were we? It’s a good thing one of the philosophies of our founder Jerry Lasso was to, “never say never.” Our thought process dictates that if an opportunity for the clients to dress up and dance doesn’t exist anywhere else, we will create that opportunity ourselves. So when we added in a few kingly crowns, a wild dance floor, an ambitious team of Activity Specialists, and the best therapists and clients in the world, the Starry Night Formal is what we get. All that being said, we may make things look perfect, but it’s not by accident – there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes from our DSP staff, volunteers, and family members too. Below are some silly and exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from the day; view from left to right. Finally, there are the spectacular formal photographs of the clients against the backdrop and on the dance floor. Within the photo galleries, you can click on an individual picture to enlarge it.
This event never would have existed without the original ideas from Alyson and Casey from our OT Department. While Casey is no longer with UI Rehab, she came back to visit for the day to help volunteer and work the event. Alyson is our COTA/Developmental Disabilities Specialist who played a large role, once again, in planning and coordinating the details and logistics of the formal. Thank you to the starry night and back to Alyson and the extraordinarily long list of employees and volunteers who made this day possible. We’ll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.
Behind the Scenes🎬
The Stars Steal the Show!
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