Prom memories: Then and now; Decorating gets under way for upcoming proms

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Dickinson High School juniors Stormie Sickler and Katie Hewson connect piping to build archways for their prom setting on Tuesday at DHS.

Talk about it

The hallways of Trinity High School and Dickinson High School are buzzing with anticipation of their school proms on Saturday.

The girls may have their dresses, but there’s still the issue of hair, makeup, nails and tanning sessions to finish.

For the junior class, it’s crunch time, as students at both schools decorate their gymnasiums throughout the week.

“It’s like all school year, you figure you have lots of time to get things done. Now, all of a sudden, it’s about doing everything,” said Kathy Kiedrowski, THS prom committee advisor.

The prom programs and invitations are done, but the decorating has just begun, she said.

This year’s theme is “Tonight’s Dream: Tomorrow’s Memory.”

“It’s supposed to be contemporary. They are going with a lot of black and white and a little pink. We’re keeping it minimalistic,” said Kiedrowski.

The grand march starts at 8 p.m., and the doors open at 7 p.m.

“We always have a slide show for people to watch. The juniors usually put the show together for the banquet — pictures of kids growing up. We repeat the slide show for the parents,” she said.

The junior-senior banquet is Wednesday in the Days Hotel Grand Dakota Lodge.

“We have 100 percent participation at the banquet,” she said.

“I have an excellent group of juniors. I’m so proud of them. Yesterday, we worked on programs until 7:30 p.m. and not one complained,” said Kiedrowski.

And while it’s crunch time at THS, it’s not stressful, she said, but she added, “Call me back Thursday night.”

Kiedrowski, along with Rachel Ebach and Casey Kessel, serve as Prom Committee advisors.

The Prom Committee’s job is to set up the entire prom, from invitations to junior-senior banquet and grand march, said Chris Lutz, committee member.

But when Saturday arrives, he noted, “All I have to do is get my tux that day, take a shower 30 minutes before and leave.”

THS junior Marissa Meyer said the committee does fundraisers throughout the year, including cookie dough sales, dances and bake sales. The biggest fundraiser is the admission charged at the door prior to grand march.

The excitement is apparent in the hallways and classrooms.

“It’s like never-ending prom-talk,” she said. “The majority of day is talking about prom.”

Ebach attended prom as a THS student in 2000 and now serves as an advisor.

“It’s a lot more work as an advisor because the responsibility likes on our shoulders to make sure it happens,” she said “We want to please all these girls who have been talking about it since January. I don’t want to let them down.”

DHS prom

The grand march at DHS starts at 7 p.m. Saturday and the theme is “Forever Young” with music by K-Hook. The setting woun’t be revealed until the night of prom.

“Everybody likes it to be a big secret,” said Paige Jordan, advisor.

Co-advisor is Trista Fisher.

Sticka Photography will be set up in the gymnasium from noon to 5 p.m. for photos. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. for grand march and an admission is charged to cover prom expenses.

The Junior Class officers have the responsibility of setting up the decorations.

“We actually start decorating the gymnasium on Sunday (today) and continue through Friday,” said Jordan.

“The girls are getting excited, doing their tanning — there’s a lot of talk about it,” she said.

As an advisor, Jordan said, “It’s a lot of work organizing and making sure everything is here on time. There’s a lot of running around, but it’s fun.”

With several archways and a paper castle to build, several of the juniors have been working since Tuesday.

“We have to work until we get it done,” said Katie Hewson, who helped set up the arches.

“Any time we have free time we work on this,” said Stormie Sickler. “It’s fun. I like building this. It’s going to be fun to see it all come together.

Tags: lifestyle, prom, community