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With the lights down low and the DJs spinning tunes, the party goers moved across the floor, grooving to the music. It might have been any ordinary party - except the room was quiet, and the guests were dancing for a good cause.
The silent disco “pawty,” a fundraiser for PAWS Shelter of Central Texas, was held Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Deep Eddy Tasting Room. Each dancer got a pair of headphones upon arrival, and they used them to choose which DJ’s set they wanted to hear. Christine Trobenter and Dru Morris attended the event, and both said it was their first silent disco.
“It was pretty cool,” Morris said. “I like the way you could switch to different songs - you know, a new song would come on, and you could switch over and see what's playing. Then you can see what channel other people are on, so if you see someone dancing real fun, you switch to that channel.”
The headphones glowed red, blue or green, which indicated to the other guests which set they were listening to - something from DJ Andy or DJ Chadi.
“When we weren't dancing, it was so fun to watch everybody and hear them singing,” Trobenter said.
Samanta LeBlanc, a realtor who helps PAWS with fundraising and events, said the idea started when she attended the silent disco at ACL, at the suggestion of DJ Chadi. She had never been to one.
“He said he'd want-ed to put one on for a really long time, so I said, let's do one for PAWS,” LeBlanc said. “That's how it all came about.”
LeBlanc has been volunteering for PAWS for four years, and has also served on their board. For this event, she wanted something that would be a fun, low-cost event for all ages.
“The class of 2026 at Dripping Springs High School has taken PAWS on as their service project, and they're always doing things for us, like volunteering and doing fundraisers for food drives,” LeBlanc said. “I wanted an event that they didn't necessarily have to volunteer for, that they could actually come and enjoy. So we do have a few of them here, dancing and having a good time.”
The silent disco was also a little earlier than other events to keep it family friendly.
“I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest, because we haven't done this before,” LeBlanc said. “We sold over 100 tickets, and we probably could have sold more, but we had to have a cut-off date to give us time to rent the headphones.”
The next big fundraiser for PAWS will be their 20th annual Dinner by the Bite on April 10.
“Wilson Appliances and Air Conditioning very generously donates their space and their kitchens, and we showcase five local restaurants,” LeBlanc said. “Those chefs come in, and they do a tasting of three to five of the dishes that they offer.”
LeBlanc said that while a lot of local residents have heard of PAWS, they often aren’t familiar with what they do.
“A lot of times people find strays and they immediately think of PAWS, but that's not really what we are in the community for,” LeBlanc said. “What we do is we go to shelters that are kill shelters and find adoptable animals that would normally be put down. We take them out of the shelter and we adopt them out.”
PAWS is a no-kill shelter founded in 1986. They provide their animals with medical attention, care and love for as long as it takes to find them a home. They have two locations the original shelter in Kyle, and a second shelter on 165 in Dripping Springs.
For more information on how to support PAWS, visit www.pawsshelter.org.
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