There is nothing glamorous about mudslides, rocks and heavy machinery but the organisers of the Gorge-ous Ball on Saturday night in Woodville managed to combine a natural disaster with a whole heap of fun.
The Kumeroa Hopelands School support committee had been thinking of ways to raise funds and came up with the idea for the ball as not just an event for the school but for the whole community.
"Given all the negative publicity surrounding the Manawatu Gorge closure, we wanted to do something positive for the community of Woodville and lift up everyone's spirits and it just grew from there," said organiser Nicky Allomes.
She says the Gorge-ous ball is being hailed as a huge success as more than 250 people donned frocks, high heels and tuxedos to dance away the hours.
Mrs Allomes said they were also surprised so many people attended, considering the number of other competing events such as the Mission concert featuring Rod Stewart in Napier, the Gin Wigmore concert in the Wairarapa and the stockcars.
"We were blown away by the number of people who attended. The people of Woodville are just amazing and supportive and we even had people come from as faraway as Taihape and Wellington.
"We have received really good feedback through our website and, even on the night, people were asking when the next ball was going to be. It was brilliant night and everyone went to considerable effort to dress up, which was great."
People arriving at the venue were greeted by a sea of traffic cones and signs with Ben Allomes dressed as a traffic controller.
"Bet you don't see too many of the stop/go guys wearing a tuxedo. I must be the best dressed one around," he quipped.
And, to add some authenticity to the evening, Higgins staff brought in diggers and boulders from the actual 200,000 cubic metre slip in the Manawatu Gorge.
Mrs Allomes said: "The staff at NZTA were fantastic. They just rang us one day and asked what they could do to help so we said some rocks would be great."
She also said they tried to keep everything as local as possible and the mothers of the school pupils were fantastic, working behind the scenes to make sure the food kept flowing.
"We had some of the guys from the Eketahuna rugby team working in the bar and our emcee Suzy Johnson was just brilliant. Our band Flip was from Palmerston North but had a couple Pahiatua guys in it and they kept the whole place rocking. There were still more than 100 people dancing away at 1.30am."
The committee also managed to secure more than $3000 in sponsorship, which surprised them.
"We already know businesses in Woodville are suffering from the effects of the gorge closure so for them to turn around and sponsor us was just so cool. Some gave us items to use as prizes and others decorations for the hall as well as cash," she said.
The committee hired an official photographer for the evening who was kept busy snapping official photos.
"He was flat tack. He didn't expect to be there for long but ended up spending nearly two hours there. It is not very often you get all glammed up for an event and then have the opportunity for your photo to be taken so it was great to see people lining up."
Funds raised from the ball will be used for special school projects and a donation will also be given to the Woodville Volunteer Fire Brigade.