"Prom Queen Forever!"

            My friend Cindy laughed when I told her I wore a polyester prom dress. Probably searched for it at Lois Jean’s in Magnolia or The El Dorado House, 30 miles south of Camden. “Elegant in its simplicity,” the dress was complemented by elbow length white gloves buttoned at the wrist with pearls, not to mention the peau-de-soie pumps. A girl’s orchid corsage and fancy hair-do had many a prom date humming The Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace.”  

It’s Prom Week at Rector High School and my thoughts have drifted to April 16, 1966. White Columns in the Moonlight was the theme. The Nomads from Southern State provided dance music…at the Fred Whiteside School Cafetorium. I would not have remembered much except I kept everything, and I have my copy of the program, provided by the Junior Class. My date was the still handsome Gene Smith. It’ll be fun to share all these keepsakes at our 50^th Class Reunion next year. 

The Rector girls have had the hair stylists and make-up artists booked for weeks. They have purchased multiple outfits – one for the “Grand March,” the traditional walk-out of senior girls and guys, all dressed up, with many of the community and all of the parents in attendance. Another outfit is required for the dinner and a final, sporty ensemble, for the “after-prom,” or the real fun.  Last year, the Senior Class chartered a luxury bus as transportation to the event, held on the Memphis Queen on the Mississippi River with a dinner cruise. After the cruise, the group boarded the bus and anticipated a night at “40 acres of fun” with go-karts, bumper boats (wet and dry), batting cages, Putt-Putt, Lasertron Lasertag, Sky Trail Ropes Course and arcade games. Something quite similar is planned for this year, minus the riverboat.

Son Rich McAlister before his Prom.

An article in the Ark Dem-Gaz this morning prompted this reverie. Two-piece, ab-solutely tummy showing prom dresses have reappeared on the market. Bartlett girls must have been light-years ahead of their time, because “been there, done that.” We administrators, chaperones, and body guards kept extra clothes, shoes, fabric, safety pins, and shorts in our back rooms to more appropriately dress several of the more risqué attempts of “fashion-forward” teens. The dress style ranged from barely there to Cinderella and her glass slippers. Guys were usually easy - get a tux and match her dress with the vest. However, once we were forced to make the call about girls dressing in tux, more of an identity statement than a fashion note. Could the guys then dress as entertainment from The Birdcage?  Spare the Prom, please.

Now, I can enjoy hearing about the Prom, reminiscing about my polyester prom dress. It’s fun to see the girls’ pictures and hear about the hair styles and beautiful dresses. Just enough distance and plenty of years between then and now allow Prom to reclaim its excitement and sparkle. And as a bonus, I've got a sign that declares me "Prom Queen Forever!"