I had the "opportunity" to chaperon one prom with him. I did not take my duties as seriously as he would have liked. I was stationed in the hallway leading to the bathroom. Every now and then King would stop by and ask if I had seen kids heading down the hall.
"Yeah. Four or five girls went down the hall about five minutes ago."
"You didn't stop them?"
"No. You just said to watch the hall. I didn't know I was supposed to prevent them from going to the bathroom."
I was never invited back.
That particular prom was held at the Holiday Inn in a neighboring town. Most of what I remember about it was King and one of the other administrators hauling two young couples from the dining room of the hotel. Apparently if students did not eat the dinner provided by the prom committee they could not attend prom. Problem was, the kids were not students at King's high school.
Score one for the over-zealous.
I also remember the drama and teen angst. The breakups. The tears. Seems to be a part of the territory that goes with prom night. Ahhh youth.
Over the years my parents played host to quite a few teen parties. Since dancing was not allowed at our public high school (dancing was a sin according to our school board -- I'm not sure why), Mom and Dad hosted -- and chaperoned -- many after prom parties for my older sisters. The parties could probably be considered the forerunner to the all-night affairs that many schools sponsor now, but these ended at midnight.
And although I'm sure they took their responsibilities seriously, Dad loved dancing with all the girls.
By the time I was old enough to attend prom, my friends and I opted for more quite, sedate affairs at someone's home. Times changed.
But we learn by example, and my sisters and I were always inviting people over to go swimming, or celebrate the New Year, or cool off after band practice.
My younger sister hosted a block party at our house one summer. I believe she asked Mom if she could invite some friends over to go swimming. Mom said of course, so she and our neighbor proceeded to walk around our block and invited every family in the neighborhood to attend.
If I recall correctly, Mom took it all in stride. She hadn't said no. She just hadn't planned on an entire block to be invited. Our neighbor's father however, ever the vile tempered gentleman that he was, made his daughter go door to door and un-invite everyone. So while neighbors were calling Mom to see if there was, indeed, going to be a party, our neighbor was going door-to-door calling the whole thing off. Small towns.
Somehow we did manage to pull it off and we did have the party. Kids came, they swam and played games. Mom served homemade cookies and punch. There was probably coffee for the adults. Our neighbor's father did not allow her to attend.
In the end, the party was a great success. I would imagine it made it into the local newspaper:
"The Stehower's hosted a block party last week. Neighbors from the area were invited and Mrs. Stehower served cookies, punch and coffee. A good time was had by all."
So I will let our granddaughter have her party. I guess it's our turn. I hope a good time will be had by all.
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