All Aboard on the dance floor

"We look nice, you feel nice, you're happy - and everybody gets happy," said All Aboard client Ed Barnhart as he surveyed the scene at Oly's Dance Studio in Everett Saturday evening. Six years after hatching the initial idea, the floor was finally filling with dancers for All Aboard's first prom. Barnhart said that he realized many of his friends at All Aboard, a nonprofit that provides activities for adults with special needs, had never had the chance to attend their high school proms. He felt everyone deserved to experience that particular rite of passage.



This year All Aboard started putting together the pieces, culminating in Saturday's prom, themed "The Sky's the Limit." Donations from the community helped make it happen. The band C.R.A.B.B. provided music, appetizers and desert were donated, along with prom dresses and discounted tuxedos. All Aboard staff, volunteers, clients and parents all pitched in to make the evening a success. "They've taught me so much," said Evelyn Pringle, All Aboard's executive director, regarding the impact participants at the nonprofit have had on her life. "I can't even express it. It was just so wonderful to see."

• Click here to see photos from the event.

• Read this recent Herald story about the prom.