Snowball dance celebrates 70th anniversary

For 70 years, the annual Snowball dance in Beatrice has survived the tradition of hostesses pairing classmates as dates.

The event started in 1945 as a private party planned and paid for by Beatrice teens and parents to teach the teens etiquette and planning for big events.

Today, the general concept of the dance remains the same, with the most notorious of many rule changes over the years being the addition of a breathalyzer at the entrance, used on every guest and hostess, and the note on invitations that guests are not required to take the date that was suggested to them by hostesses.

Jackie Hovendick, whose mother helped begin the Snowball tradition, and Sue O'Neill attended the event in the 1950s.

"It gives girls a chance to dress like princesses," O'Neill said. "Girls of all ages love to dress up. For a lot of them, the only other chance is their wedding."

They said girls today pay to get pedicures, manicures and hairdos for the ball.

"I did my own hair," O'Neill said.

Hovendick said she got her first pedicure in late adulthood.

"We peroxided our bangs blonde and hoped it didn't turn out orange or green," Hovendick said.

The dancing has changed, too, they said.

"In a lot of dances today, you don't hold your partner," Hovendick said.

The Snowball was simpler 70 years ago, they said, before different groups of hostesses voted on several changes in traditions over the years.

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"People got upset, thinking they were being discriminated against if they weren't invited," Hovendick said. "To me, that's wrong. It was just a private party ... That's a part of life."

Sticking with the original snowball tradition, hostesses -- seven female students from the sophomore, junior and senior classes at Beatrice High School -- sift through the list of more than 400 students to match guests as suggested dates.

This is the most challenging part of the planning process, said five BHS senior hostesses.

The teenage girls said they spent four hours in October pairing up the senior class.

"We try the best we can," said BHS senior and Snowball hostess Chesney Schmidt. "We are not supposed to talk at school about the matches ... Sophomore hostesses have the hardest time because they're new and don't know how everything works."

BHS senior Cassidy Wrightsman called the pairing process overwhelming.

"A lot of people get upset," Wrightsman said. "We don't require you to go with your date (that we paired you with). We encourage everyone to go whether your date does or not."

Guests can RSVP to the hostesses with a different date.

The Snowball is sometimes called the "Snobball" and other "not nice names," the hostesses said.

"It gets discouraging," Wrightsman said. "We don't have to do it and spend our own money on it. I just hope everyone knows that we do it so they can have fun."

Each hostess and her mother or father help plan the event and pay $150 toward the decorations, food, building rental, a DJ and invitations.

The girls said Snowball is more fun and more formal than prom. Girls wear floor-length dresses to Snowball and short dresses to prom, they said. It's fun because it's not a school event with teachers present, and more people attend, they said.

"I think it's a good tradition because it's another opportunity for the student body to get together with friends and have some fun outside of school," Wrightsman said.

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