Revere Student Council hosted a free Senior Citizen Ball at RHS on Thursday, April 13, to provide a special evening for senior citizens in the community. 

Education aide Beth D’Amico is involved in the running of the ball as student council adviser. She explained why student council wanted to host the event again this year. 

“Our student council board wanted to give back to our community, and they decided they wanted to focus on senior citizens. A lot of [the student council members] work in nursing homes and so forth, and they thought it would be really fun to have this event for them,” D’Amico said. 

Guidance counselor Emily Rion helped with the preparation and running of this event alongside D’Amico as co-adviser for student council. Rion explained her part in this event. 

“One of the biggest things for the planning of the ball is making sure that we get the information out to the public, inviting the different residential homes for senior citizens in the community,” Rion said. 

This was the first time student council held the event since before the start of COVID-19. The last time Revere had a Senior Citizen Ball was in 2019. 

Student council president Jessie Coffey explained why the 2022-23 student council board wanted to do something special for senior citizens.

“No student council board since 2019 has brought [the Senior Citizen Ball] back, and we were just like, ‘We need to be that board who brings this back.’ It is just a good way to give back to the community,” Coffey said. 

Coffey explained that this event will have many volunteers, within and outside of just the student council.

“We have organized a bunch of student council volunteers, as well as some teacher and administrator volunteers,” Coffey said. 

To spread the word about the event, fliers have been passed out and spread locally. Coffey explained some of the places where the Senior Citizen Ball has been advertised at. 

“We sent out a flier to Revere Local Schools [by email], and we also took the [flyer] to local restaurants and senior care centers and all that, and so we got a pretty good amount of [senior citizens],” Coffey said. 

About 115 seniors attended the event. 

Old Carolina Barbeque catered the dinner, and Gene Fiocca Band provided music. Student council members brought in desserts. 

Coffey explained why the student council chose Old Carolina Barbeque and the Gene Fiocca Band. 

“The music is this band they did in 2019, and a lot of senior citizens really like this band because they play [older] music. It was a pretty good turn out then. . . . For the food, we just wanted to cater something simple and try to think of something that everyone would like,” Coffey said. 

Student council chose a simple but elegant theme for the decorations. 

“[We had] flowers as centerpieces and simple table sheets,” Coffey said. 

The event took place in the cafeteria, and the Revere men’s track team helped to move tables in the cafeteria to set up for the event after their practice. 

Along with having food, decorations and music, another important detail was making sure that Officer Dressler was on campus during the event. 

“We made sure that we had Officer Dressler on hand because it is always good if you are having an event like this that you have a first responder,” Rion said. 

Since this was a free event, student council used money from Homecoming ticket sales and candy bar sales from previous events to provide everything needed to put on this event. 

Some seniors attending the event were graduates of Revere themselves. The ball gives seniors the opportunity to dress up as if they were going to prom like they did back in high school. 

Rion explained that this year’s student council board has done great work throughout their time serving on the board.

“We rely a lot on our leaders Annabelle Yost, Jessie Coffey, Jackie Randall and Ava Najsztup. We would not be able to do anything without them there. They are absolutely incredible,” Rion said. 

As taxpayers in the area with likely no children of their own in the district, seniors may not get to see where their money is going towards the schools. During the ball, seniors got to see and experience the high school campus. 

The Senior Citizens’ Brunch and daytime showing of Revere Players’ Mamma Mia is another upcoming event being held for local senior citizens. 

Rion hopes to continue the event in coming years, as what once was before the start of COVID-19.

“I hope we continue to do this [event]. I know that with the shutdown from COVID things kind of fell away a little bit, but I hope that every year we continue to do this,” Rion said. 

The Senior Citizen Ball was a chance to give back to local senior citizens and an opportunity for student council members, teachers and administrators to volunteer and get involved in the community.