The Racquette

Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: College Life

Media Credit: J. McLear

Last Saturday, February 2, more than 600 students donned formal dress and braved the unpleasantly slushy walk to the Union in order to attend RHA's first annual Snow Ball. John Proetta, who chaired the event for RHA (Residence Hall Association), believed that a dance would be well-received by the campus. "With the weather being so cold and there not being much to do," said Proetta, "I really thought this could be a big success."

The Union MPR was filled from front to back with students shortly after the doors opened at 9 p.m. and, if the crowd's constant moving and dancing were any indication, both the atmosphere and the music were well-received. SUNY Potsdam's radio station the WAIH provided music. "There was a lot of positive energy. We liked the reception of the crowd," said senior Jackie Bintz, who DJed the event.

According to Proetta, Snow Ball was first conceived in mid-November, but the logistics of planning were slightly complicated: "The greatest challenge with planning the Snow Ball was working around timing." Proetta continued, "We had about 3 RHA meetings before winter break to briefly discuss our plans for the ball. The majority of the shopping, planning and consulting was done over phone and e-mail with one of the co-advisers, Sarah Mack."

A relatively young organization, RHA hoped that the Snow Ball would raise awareness about what RHA is and does, and that it would "give a face to the name." According to Proetta, "I think we may have done it!" He considered the event a pretty great success: "Honestly, with the amount of time we had and the limited members in RHA (due to it being so new) we had some doubts." Despite these doubts, RHA managed to hold what Proetta labeled "SUNY Potsdam's most successful campus-wide dance in its history!" Even before the night of the dance, RHA had sold approximately 300 tickets, and the final number of attendees more than doubled that number.

Students attending the dance were given the option of donating a non-perishable food item in lieu of payment. This was not simply to help the community, but to help students as well. "As a student myself, it is very rare that I carry cash around with me. The point in the food donations was to simply get more people to come... Since we couldn't take BearExpress we thought of a clever idea in exchange. Students could stop in the college store, pick up a few items, and have a ticket to the Snow Ball." This method of payment was popular among students. According to Proetta, "we filled an entire pick-up truck to the max with canned goods." RHA is planning on donating these to food pantries in the surrounding communities, but they have not yet finalized the details.

Proetta's favorite moment of the night was being on stage and "seeing the vast sea of familiar faces, the suave tuxedos and the elegant dresses that filled the union MPR that night" He continued, "It was so gratifying to see that all of the hard work, time and dedication that went into the Snow Ball really paid off." As for next year? According to Proetta, "This was only the first year! Next year, it's going to be bigger and better!"

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