This is the only picture I can find of my prom. I know there is another picture of our "band" but it must not be scanned into Dad's flickr account yet. This shows what a typical "getting-ready" time was like in the Ware bathroom, everyone looking in the mirror at the same time.
I bought my dress from Sweet Briar's in Provo. It was the first one I saw, of course, and we went back for it after checking out some others. It cost $55.00, which was a lot in those days! And it was a store-bought dress.....one of the first I ever had. Mom made all our clothes, which were always beautiful, but we splurged and got to purchase a dress fro the prom. We got a good deal on it because Aunt Christy's sister worked at the store and gave us a family discount. The style of dresses was very simple back then, but looked very nice on all the girls. There is a big ruffle on the bottom, in the same blue color, trimmed across the top with the same colored band as the sleeves and high waist. The white part was a bubbly, puckered chiffon fabric. I remember thinking it was the most beautiful dress there. I am sure all the other girls thought the same about their dresses. I think I still have the dress downstairs somewhere, but don't quote me on that. When we started moving things around I got rid of some old things, so it might be gone. I guess I will have to check on that. I remember JoAnn Arnold did my hair for the night (she was the new, young mom in town at the time). She volunteered because I was the babysitter for her boys and she wanted to help me out for the prom. She bought the pretty clip that was in my hair.
Our theme was "Pieces of April", a popular song by a group called Bread. It was very appropriate since the prom was always in April back then. We decorated with pastel colors. We lowered the ceiling, dividing it up in large squares. Each square was then filled in with a million (ok, maybe just a few hundred)twisted streamers of one color, creating a beautiful patchwork design. I remember how difficult it was to plan out the colors and the direction the streams were all going, so every square was different from any around it. To see a picture of the ceiling, visit Sandra's blog.
Our prom was a "never to be forgotten" event. My date and I got there early and were met at the door by my dad, who was a junior class advisor. He immediately,"It will be alright," meaning something was wrong. Yes, something was terribly wrong. The live band was over in Green River, not Castle Dale. The band from Richfield missed the exit on I-70 and ended up in Green River! They would be late.....So much for Friday, the 13th! I think we were the only kids that actually danced to the music of Three Dog Night for their prom. We got the old record player out of the office and someone went home and got their record collection and that is what we danced to. After everyone arrived, we got ready for the floor show, doing the traditional promenade with our dance partners. As the promenade started up, in walked the band, right across the floor in the middle of the promenade! They proceeded to unplug our music to get themselves ready to start playing! What crazy guys!
Finally, we got the floor show over, the students danced with their parents (yes, we did that back then, too) and everyone was happy. We all decided we weren't going to stay and dance with that band after they ruined our prom, so we left to our parties. When the band noticed that so many people were leaving and no one staying, they thought they would leave early. Hellooooo, they just got there! Dad reminded them they had a contract to play for 3 hours, so he made them stand there and play to an empty gym. My dad hated dances and the loud music, but he stayed there for 2 hours listening to them play. He was nice and let them finish after two hours.
Stewart and I went back to my house for a party with many other friends. We ate, played games, sang around the piano, and just hung out. It was a fun night, and obviously one I still remember.
Memories....what great friends they are.
5 comments:
Prom is something I will always remember. My prom was in the new gym. It's hard to decorate such a big area, so they just decorate the 2 ends. They had a big sign on the end that we walk down when JR announced us that said "PROM 2000" on the other end of the gym, was a fountain made of balloons. It was so pretty. I LOVED my dress. I hear all these people spend 100's of dollars on dresses and I remember mine was about $150 at the Bridal store in Orem on State Street. It was EXACTLY what I wanted (a poofy bottom). Back then I was so little I had it zipped up and it could fit over my head. It was a size 0 I think and we still had to alter it. Those were the days. I LOVED dancing with Dad, something I will always remember. Hard to explain an Emery High Prom to someone who hasn't lived one!
I have been wondering who you danced with and who your date was. Thanks for the post. You will need to look for your dress. Wouldn't it be fun to take them to a reunion, that is if we ever have another one.
Funny! You need to post this story to Gpa's blog.
Funny thing is, I pictured this whole thing taking place in the new gym. Duh!
Mom, I think your prom dress is downstairs in the storage room with all our prom dresses and your wedding dress in a big storage bag. I know you didn't get rid of it.
Thanks, Nicky! Why do we store things forever?
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