FMA Dinner of Thanks: Different Perspectives
Posted on 12/07/2016
By: S. Gurry
Irish Step Dancers
On a night when we celebrated the many diverse cultures that make up the FMA family, I was truly delighted when I as asked if I could find local Irish Step Dancers to perform. I, as a child growing up in Cambridge with Irish-American parents and Irish grandparents, had taken Irish Step Dance in Central Square with the O'Shea Irish Dancers in the back hall of what is the Elks club now on Bishop Allen Drive.
And I was truly thankful that I found a local school, the O'Riley Irish Dancers, who take lessons at a studio in Central Square! Their Thursday night lesson ended at 5:30PM, so the teacher, Jaclyn, the parents and the students, walked to the FMA afterwards.
These young elementary school students in their black leggings and dance studio T-shirts were accompanied by a fiddler in the true Irish style of fiddling. They were excited about performing and they seemed to love it, dancing with great smiles on their faces.
Gift Bags
At our annual Dinner of Thanks, a small group of members of the ASD@FMA committee sold empty gift bags (which were intended for families to use when gift-giving this coming season) raised money for Autism Awareness and the ASD Committee by selling beautifully crafted gift bags, made by the students with autism who attend the FMA. We sold 52 gift bags, and including donations, made over $75 for the committee! Thanks to everyone who worked hard on creating theses (the teachers, paraprofessionals and in particular, the students) and we will save the money for future events.