RIO GRANDE — The University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College will host its annual Intergenerational Dance on Friday, Oct. 28. The dance, which is free and open to all area residents, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Lyne Center on the Rio Grande campus. Each year, the Social Work Student Council hosts the dance as a way to bring area residents of all ages together for a fun evening of music, food and games.

Mandy Miller, a social work major from Gallipolis, explained that this will be the 11th annual dance, and said all area residents are invited to attend. The evening will feature music from a DJ, several food items, prizes and even games for the children who are in attendance.

“We’re really hoping that people of all ages will come out to the dance,” Miller said. Last year, around 120 people attended the Intergenerational Dance.

Susan McGrath, a social work major from Rio Grande, said that last year’s attendees included college students, residents from local nursing homes, children from local schools and a wide range of families from the region.

“I love to see everyone dancing together,” McGrath said. It’s nice to see people of all ages interacting together in this way and getting a chance to get to know each other, she said.

The main goal for the evening is to have people of different ages talk with each other and get to know a little bit about each other.

Many of the Rio Grande students who live on campus often don’t have very many opportunities to interact with people from the community. The students may miss being around people from different age groups at home, and they enjoy the opportunity to visit with children, teenagers, and adults of all ages at the dance.

Many of the senior citizens in the community also look forward to the opportunity to visit with the college students and see the young children at the dance each year. The students in the Social Work Student Council at Rio Grande organize the dance each year, and coordinate all aspects of the event. The students publicize the event, plan the music, get the refreshments in place and even talk to community businesses and organizations interested in providing prizes for the dance. The students do not receive a grade for all of their work, rather the dance is an annual tradition for the Social Work Student Council.

For more information on the Friday, Oct. 28 Intergenerational Dance at Rio Grande, or to talk to Miller or McGrath about donating prizes for the evening, e-mail Miller at s515514@students.rio.edu or McGrath at smcgrath@hughes.net.