The Snowball dance is one tradition at LHS that has not always been around. It was first introduced in the mid-to-late nineties by Stu.Co. and was held in the Larned High School (LHS) gym with a DJ. Back then, it was similar to our current homecoming, where the school would casually come together and play games, eat food, and listen to music. Throughout the years, Snowball was taken over by the Booster Club and turned into more of a formal dance than a get-together. Nowadays, snowball is a very big event where people spend lots of money and take a long time to get ready. Along with making the event larger, Stu.Co. has also increased the dance activities. Over the past three years, Booster Club has added more activities to the dance, such as buying a picture booth, offering snack options, and adding more drinks, as well as having a dance competition.
The hardest part of Snowball is picking out what to wear. For a girl, finding a dress, shoes, hairstyle, makeup, and nails will most certainly cost lots of money. After interviewing Mackenzie Reinert, she says, “The most that has been spent is probably about $120; I just use the cheap press on nails, I do my own hair, and I’ve used the same shoes since sophomore year, so I haven’t bought new dress shoes.” Other students admitted to spending over two hundred dollars on the extravagant night. Luckily for boys, it does not take much time or money to find a shirt, pants, and a tie like James Garetto, who says he does not spend money on clothes and wears a nice shirt and some jeans that he has previously owned.
Making sure that you are ready on time takes very meticulous planning. For guys, many say that it takes them around thirty minutes to be completely ready. Crispin Wilson says that it will take him only twenty minutes because he is wearing a polo and jeans. Girls sometimes start the process the day before, while others only take an hour to get ready. According to a survey, the majority of girls take at least three hours to be completely ready, but for others, it takes up to six or seven. Make-up and hair usually take the longest amount of time and can also be the most stressful.
During the excitement of getting ready, there has to be enough time to get some food. Some people use it to hang out with friends such as Arianna Hemken who says she snacks around her place with friends while getting ready. Others like to go out and have an actual meal with friends. Trinity Camarillo gets Chinese with her friends. Many others either have dinner with their family or go to other restaurants in either Larned or Great Bend.
Another fun tradition many high schoolers have is learning line dances. Line dances are very popular in small-town dances and have become a staple at Larned’s Snowball. Many friend groups meet up and learn various dances. Whether it be Burn it to the Ground, Boot Scootin Boogie, or FootLoose, you are sure to get a workout from the amount of dancing being done. When asked what her favorite line dances are, Reese Watkins says, “My favorite is either Good Time [Alan Jackson] or Boot Scootin Boogie [Brooks & Dunn].” More often than not, everybody learns different dances, so when finally on the dance floor, the dances are not exactly uniform, but everyone has fun knowing at least a little of what they are. Other students mentioned they do not learn the dances because they do not want to mess up and are scared to make mistakes, while others just do not enjoy the dances.
Snowball is a great way to meet with people outside of school and be able to converse without strict classroom rules. Each student is allowed to bring a date and this includes students who do not attend LHS. The students who are in relationships tend to bring their significant other, while those who do not take either a close friend as a date or choose to go with a group of friends. Cassie Manry believes “it is more fun to just go with friends because then there is less pressure and you can just go have fun with your friends.” All the students attending are excited about Snowball and are sure to have fun.
