Mercy Roberts and dance team A perform the dance "Minuit."

Despite snowy weather last Friday night and cold temperatures on Saturday night, large crowds were on hand as Heartwood in the Hills held its 16th annual December Celebration to showcase the talents of fall students.

Since audience space is limited, and the crowd can be large, performances are given on two evenings.

The main difference in the performances is the arrival of special guests, Heartwood Turtle and his friend Rabbit, on Saturday to help with drawing a unique prize for a student and to shake the hands of students as they receive certificates of accomplishment.

Ilene Evans returned this year to sing and tell the crowd spellbinding tales of mountain folk. One was of a mountain woman dealing with a hog thief and a bear, and the other was a scary story of the “googlie-eyed potato man.”

Ilene Evans.

The dancers were enthusiastic, energetic and performed flawlessly. Artistic director Jude Binder displayed some stunning masks created by students.

Heartwood students, who are seniors in high school this year, and about to graduate, were overcome with emotion as they realized that this may be their last performance at Heartwood.

After the show on Saturday night, they entertained Binder with an impromptu line dance that they had choreographed just before the show.

More Photos will be posted on This Week in Photos on Thursday