Bessie Hall paused for a moment at the entryway to the activities room at Bryant Health Center Wednesday evening, her rabbit fur coat around her shoulders and a gold chain setting off the neckline of her long black dress.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” she said. “It gets me out. I get to listen to some good music. I think it’s good to get out. I came last year and I had a great time.”

“It” was the Snowflake Ball, an annual affair to which Bryant residents invite their counterparts from other area nursing homes for an evening of music, dancing and fellowship.

The point behind the Snowflake Ball is to give the seniors a chance to have a special evening with family and friends and to entertain and be entertained. Emcee Delmer Hammond provided the music.

“Some of them have never been to a prom,” Osborne explained. “For them it’s the kickoff of the holidays, a chance to dress up. They look forward to it.”

While some residents came casually dressed, others came to the ball dressed as Cinderella, minus the glass slippers.

Edna Morris, of Sunset Nursing Center, came in a floor-length red satin gown and a black lace stole while fellow Sunset resident Evelyn Higgins came in a long powder blue gown. This was her first time at the ball.

“I think I’ll like it,” Morris said. “My sister is here and other family members are here. I get to see people I haven’t seen in a while.”

“They’re sort of like kids,” Bryant staffer Martha Mefford explained. “The more frou frou, the better they like it.”

If Cinderellas were in full supply, so were the prospective handsome suitors. Bryant resident Tom Pack leaned on his cane and watched the last-minute preparations for the festivities.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” he said with a smile. “It’s something different and I like the guy playing the music. I’ve known him from way back.”

If the residents were looking to let their hair down, Hammond was ready to help, playing oldies and slow songs and a dance number or two (“Let’s get funky with it” was on the play list).

When he took to the floor himself, he got to dance with Hall and then got a smooch on the cheek.

Bryant’s Snowflake Ball drew guests from Sunset, River’s Bend Health Car and Fountainhead Health Center.