The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Dance scholarship in memory of Lilly
Lilly Faith Dickerman: Scholarship to give other children the opportunity to study dance in memory of 4-year-old
ONEIDA » Lilly Faith Dickerman will always be remembered as a little girl who loved to dance, and could often be found helping others concentrate on their own dance practice.
“She just loved it -- she was dancing 24 hours a day,” her grandma Colleen Skinner of Oneida recalled of her precious tiny dancer. “If she wasn’t dancing in the studio, then she was putting on dance recitals at home.”
Lilly passed away on Sept. 2, 2017 following a motor vehicle accident in the town of Lincoln. Her little brother Isaac was also injured in that crash. Skinner recalled Lilly was supposed to be going to school for the first time that September -- and they needed to make the sad call to the school to make sure the bus didn’t stop to look for her.
Skinner is organizing the firstever Lilly’s Dance AngelsWalk-athon fundraiser in Lilly’s memory on Saturday, May 19 in Oneida’s Allen Park, with monies raised earmarked to fund a scholarship for children who can’t afford the cost of dance lessons.
Born on Jan. 7, 2013, Lilly started dancing in the summer of 2016 when she was only 3. A fourth-generation dancer, she quickly took to both her lessons and recitals, usually being the one right up front and noticeably making sure everyone around her was also working on the steps.
“If she saw someone not paying attention, she would tap them on the shoulder,” Skinner said.
Skinner herself was a dance instructor, and Lilly’s mom Bethany took lessons from her. Lilly even had the chance to train with famed local dance instructor Sandy Fukes, who Skinner herself had also danced for in her younger days.
It was the memory of some sad faces that prompted Skinner to come up with the dance scholarship. She recalled looking out her own window to see kids looking in -- kids whose families couldn‘t send them to the studio.
“I used to see kids with their faces pressed up against the window looking in because they couldn’t afford dance lessons,” she remembered. “I would love to be able to help a child take lessons in Lilly‘s name so she won‘t be forgotten.”
It can cost about $1,000 a year to put a child through dance lessons and recitals, including the purchase of costumes and at least a couple of pairs of shoes as little feet grow, Skinner said.
Donations for the walk-a-thon are already coming in, and Skinner especially applauded the work of photographer friend Debbie Chandler for making a beautiful six by eight foot banner of Lilly as well as smaller posters and flyers.
Registration for the walk-athon is that morning at 10:30 a.m. in the Allen Park pavilion, with the one-mile walk kicking off at noon from the park and walking a loop down Main Street to WestWalnut and back up Broad Street. Skinner said there will be surprises to be found along the way to keep
the younger participants excited about completing the walk.
There will also be games, a balloon walk if weather permits, a tutu and cape contest, basket raffles, a bake sale, 50/50 raffles and other family-friendly activities. Allen Park is on Broad Street in Oneida just north of the intersection with Route 5. Suggested donation is $10, or $35 for a family.
The event is hopefully the first of an annual fundraiser that will continue to give other children the chance to enjoy dancing as much as Lilly always did.
“I didn’t want to see her joy for dancing forgotten,” Skinner said. “I want to be able to help another little kid to enjoy it like she did. I‘mhoping that we can give somebody else happiness out of this tragedy.”
For more information, or to make a donation, call Skinner at (315) 264-8084. To read more Your Neighbor stories, visit: www.OneidaDispatch. com/topic/yn
“I‘m hoping thatwe can give somebody else happiness out of this tragedy.”
— Attribution goes here and
here for a couple of lines and
finishes here