The Brandywine Heights Community Task Force and Kutztown Strong came together on Nov. 30 to offer high school students a free night of fun and country line dancing at C.J. Hummel’s.
From 7-10 p.m., Kutztown and Brandywine high school students came out to enjoy the evening with their friends and music by DJ Hot Wheelz.
“We asked the students for ideas, and this was one of them,” said Prudence Miller, a member of the Brandywine Task Force. “Kids come up here on Thursday nights, so we contacted Hummel’s to ask if we could do something just for our kids. We advertised it, hung posters and announced it in the schools and students showed up.”
Kristin Haring, also a member of the task force, helped to organize the event.
“We wanted to give them a healthy activity to do,” she said. “Get out, meet people.”
The Brandywine Heights Community Task Force formed in April 2014 and has been working to keep students safe and offer alternative activities.
“With the recent drug issues, we wanted to put together a group anybody could be a part of,” said Miller. “The task force itself has different committees. Activities’ goal is to give students fun things to do.”
For this event, Brandywine contacted Kutztown Strong, and the two task forces teamed up to make it happen.
Melissa Blatt, co-chair for Kutztown Strong’s Community Options committee, was happy to take part.
“They contacted us and said, ‘Hey, are you interested,’ and we said, ‘Yes. Absolutely,'” said Blatt. “We want to give the students something else to do and a place to belong, and it’s important to do different activities to reach different students.”
The country line dance had a nice turnout, and most of the students were familiar with line dancing.
“I’ve been coming here since I was about 12 or 13,” said Alex Esterly, a senior at Brandywine. “This is my thing, line dancing. It’s fun to dance and hang out with friends.”
While Esterly thought more students could have attended, he was impressed with the task force’s efforts.
“It could be a little better turnout, but it’s something to get started,” he said. “I think the community being aware of what’s happening to kids and the struggle that families and friends are going through has opened a lot of eyes.”
The two task forces will hold another night of country line dancing on Jan. 17 at Kutztown Fire Company from 7-10 p.m.
Brandywine Task Force is also holding a Christmas caroling event on Dec. 14, and according to Miller, a July battle of the bands is in the making.
Kutztown Strong is working on putting more events together for their community’s students.
“We have a group of students in the high school that work on different activities,” said Blatt. “In the past we have done an outdoor movie night in the park, and we just had a Capture the Flag game not too long ago. We are working on more activities.”
For information on upcoming events, visit the Brandywine Heights Community Task Force page at www.bhctaskforce.org or the Kutztown Strong page at www.kutztownstrong.com.
