Christina Dressel | Courtesy
Streamers, sparkles, and smiles greeted guests at the second annual Salvation Army Princess Day on Saturday where Disney princesses reminded guests that beauty comes from the heart.
The Liberty Princess Co. and Hillsdale College’s Salvation Army GOAL program planned the event, where students dressed as Belle from “Beauty and the Beast,” Belle’s prince, Rapunzel from “Tangled,” Tinkerbell from “Peter Pan,” Princesses Anna and Elsafrom “Frozen”, and others taught more than 85 would-be-princesses to walk, wave, and curtsy like royalty. At the end, they were crowned at a royal ball hosted by Belle and her prince.
“How great is it that mothers and their daughters, and fathers and their daughters have this opportunity to remember how precious they are in this negative world?” said co-organizer and Salvation Army captain Casey Grey. “We are constantly told what our girls should look like, but here we are reminded that beauty is on the inside. Beauty is the love we show people.”
Grey said she planned last year’s Princess Day with help from the Salvation Army’s women’s ministry, but realized the event could be an opportunity to reach out to the community. This year, she asked for assistance from Hillsdale College’s Salvation Army GOAL program, led by senior Sarah Chavey, and the Liberty Princess Co., directed by senior Gianna Marchese.
“We’re blessed to have Sarah and Gianna,” Grey said. “I just told them where we wanted to go with the event, gave them a budget, and they went with it.”
Anna Goodwin, a volunteer with the GOAL program, said she helped Chavey plan the day’s events.
“This year, we have a face-painting booth and paper dolls that we can cut out, and coloring and nail painting, and we’ve done a lot more of the decorations,” Goodwin said. “We just want every girl to feel like a princess.”
Elizabeth, one of the children who participated in the event, said the princesses were her favorite, and she felt like one at the event. Elizabeth added that Elsa was her favorite princess. Her grandmother, Hope Richardson, said the two had seen Disney’s “Frozen” more times than she could count.
Olivia pondered the favorite princess question while adhering sparkling foam décor to her magical princess wand, but, in the end, she decided her favorite is Elsa’s sister Princess Anna.
“It’s fun to watch the smiles on the girls’ faces,” Grey said. “And it’s also fun to watch the moms get giddy. They become children again. I know I did that earlier today, too.”
The Princess Day celebration was not limited to ladies, either. A smattering of fathers also attended, escorting their daughters to the nail polish station, and dancing with them at the royal ball.
“My favorite part is seeing her face, seeing how happy she is,” said Andy Huraczy, one of the fathers in attendance.
He said he first heard about Princess Day the day before the event, and thought it would be the perfect place to take his daughter, Keeleigh.
“This was my weekend,” he said. “She lives in Detroit, so I picked her up at about 8 p.m. on Friday, and at 12:30 a.m. we went out and got her an outfit — a dress and a necklace.”
Huraczy said the event was not his first dress-up attempt.
“Oh I’ve painted nails, she’s even painted mine before,” Huraczy said. “Once she asked me if she could do my makeup. I said ‘Oh no.’ Twenty minutes later, my whole face was done.”
He said he lost those pictures. They couldn’t be allowed to end up on Facebook.
“My favorite thing to do with Keeleigh? Everything,” Huraczy said. “We both have imagination, and can turn anything into an adventure.”
The event concluded with a ball hosted by Belle, senior Gianna Marchese, and her prince, freshman Alex Pack. Before the dancing, Belle read the little princesses a story about Cinderella’s fictional sidekick Emma, concluding with a reminder that true beauty comes from the heart through acts of kindness.
Grey and sophomore Claire Gwilt, who will be taking over the GOAL program next year, confirmed she plans to host Princess Day again next year. Grey said she hopes the program will grow so large that it will outgrow the church.
“Talk about girl empowerment, these parents, these women, have overcome fear, and all kinds of challenges,” Grey said. “And they’ve become women in their own right. You can learn a lot from that.”
