A Prom-inent Role
At Slippery Rock High School, it was "The Way You Look Tonight" that was important.
Everyone at Knoch High School will be a movie star when chauffeurs "Roll out the Red Carpet" May 11.
And, "Pirates of the Caribbean" invaded Grove City High School Friday.
In the middle of prom season, upperclassmen have prepared decorations for the big dance. The decorations are usually coordinated with a theme.
Slippery Rock bases its theme on a song. Karns City did that this year, too. The prom committee there chose "Forever Yours" from a Journey song.
Instead of a song, Moniteau High School went with a time period — "Medieval Romance."
At many schools, a prom committee assembles a list of possible themes, often garnered from catalogs or suggestions from members, and narrows it down.
At Slippery Rock, the prom committee makes the final choice, but other schools, such as Knoch, let the junior or senior class vote.
Specialized catalogs are often used for decorating ideas.
"We have catalogs with pictures of things we want to build," Pam Labecco, Karns City prom adviser, said. A list of possibilities is narrowed to about five and the students make the final choice.
Karns City orders decorations from several companies. This year, the prom at the Butler Days Inn will include staircases that meet at the top of the rise, lanterns, archways for picture taking, icicle lights and lit centerpieces.
Volunteers spend a couple of weeks before the prom working on the project. Labecco said the students use a site in East Brady as a staging area where they do the advance work.
"It's all basically cardboard," she said.
This Thursday, with the prom upcoming, those who worked will be excused from class to decorate for a time.
"We're very proud of the work," she said.
The decorations have been beautiful in the past and the hotel has used pictures of the event in its publicity, she said.
"We have the most extravagant proms," she said.
However, at Karns City, the theme has little to do with the event colors, which are black and red this year. The decorations also don't reflect the theme.
"Forever Yours" will be printed on the tickets, programs and the favors, but that's about it, she said. The prom committee chooses a theme because it's a tradition, she said.
"The prom decorations and theme don't go hand in hand,"she said.
At Moniteau, it's a little different.
The decorations at the high school, site of the grand march, and at the Butler County Community College Convocation Center, where the main activities were held Friday, were strongly tied to the theme.
Even the food was medieval-oriented. While the students ate, there were jugglers and strolling musicians to keep the nobility entertained.
Medieval romance came from a catalog. Moniteau adviser Karen Genova said she looked over themes and decorations from about four specialized companies. Other ideas considered were "An Evening in Paris," "TropicalParadise," and "Roman Holiday."After the theme was picked, the committee, headed by junior class president Sara Dick, chose the decorations."The decorations are the core of the theme," David Williams, class vice president, said.This year, the purchased decorations included an archway and castle tops for tables.As students entered, there was a fireplace and a coat of arms for each school club. The entrance was decorated like a castle interiorAt the school, where the introductions were held, Genova planned an archway and other period decorations."We really go all out," she said.Using lots of corrugated paper, the art students and prom committee spent dozens of hours putting things together."It's tough, but every year it turns out well," Mike Simons, junior class secretary, said.At Grove City, hot glue was the hot commodity. "There's lots of cutting and hot gluing," Sarah Steigerwald, a senior on the prom committee said.The students working on decorations put together trees, pirate hat centerpieces and a treasure chest to match the "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme. The wood shop helped make a 24-foot pirate ship, she said.When Steigerwald and the committee picked the theme from a catalog, it wasn't a blockbuster hit."Pretty much everyone hated it at first,"she said. "We liked it because it was so different."Emily Houck, a senior working on the decorations, said this year's theme veers from the traditional."Proms are usually flashy. This is more dark," she said.Steigerwald agreed. "This is not flowery; this is swords.""One person said people didn't like it because it would be hard for girls to match their dresses to,"Kyla Zarecky, a senior on the decoration committee, said.But, because there were so many ideas to flush it out, the girls promoted it to the junior class."We talked about the decorations and people got excited,"Steigerwald said. The class voted, and Steigerwald said the result was a landslide."We like it just because it was so different," she said.The students perused the catalogs, deciding what decorations could be made and what needed to be ordered.The treasure chest was one purchase, but that didn't mean it didn't require any work, Steigerwald said.It took four students more than two hours to put the desk size chest together.Stacey Pardoe, the prom adviser at Grove City, expected to be working right up until the big event on decorations.<B>Finding romance</B>At Slippery Rock, the decorations were going up the day before the prom. A group of juniors was in the high school's auditorium April 26, decorating for the grand walk the next day.The theme, "The Way You Look Tonight," was chosen by the prom committee. While other possibilities included "Cherish You" and "A Moment Like This," the winner was the most romantic, said junior Abeir Chatter."It was the best fit for the prom," he said.While the theme isn't used extensively at Slippery Rock, Chatter still thinks it's important."The theme is what gets advertised. A better theme would attract more people," he said.The theme is printed on tickets and displayed at the school.Ashley Kreutz, junior, helped string white Christmas lights on the stage floor. Using gossamer, tulle and blue and silver decorations, the decorators were trying to make the stage sparkle."A lot of the decorations are accumulated from over the years," prom adviser Pam Raisely said. "So we keep what we can from year to year."Junior Monica Drobezko said months of planning go into the prom."It's lots of work just to get everything planned and organized," she said."It will come together eventually," she said.Kreutz was excited about the prom. She expected to go to her first two classes on prom day before the dress rehearsal and actually getting dressed.
At Knoch, senior class and prom adviser Al Rappa doesn't count on those going to the prom to actually finish the decorations."The seniors are busy getting their hair done, nails done, everything," he said.To decorate the Sheraton Pittsburgh North in Marshall Township, he will pick a group of underclassmen to go to the hotel on May 11, the day of the prom.With "Roll out the Red Carpet," Rappa plans to go Hollywood. "When the students walk into the hotel, the hallway will be covered with pictures of photographers,he said. "There will be posters of Marilyn Monroe and other celebrities."For the most part, the theme is the basis for decorations that can be used as a picture backdrop, he said. It will also be printed on favors and tickets.<B>Price of the prom</B>Rappa, who has been a prom adviser since 1987, said he expects Knoch to spend $2,500 on decorations this year.Most committees get their money from fundraisers. Moniteau throws a carnival, and at Grove City, juniors sell magazines.For a few years, Knoch's prom was held at Laube Hall in Freeport."We used to spend thousands on decorations," Rappa said, adding that prom expenditures used to be higher."We used to start building decorations in early January," he said.Things changed in 1993 when the prom moved to its current location at the Sheraton, Rappa said, because the students no longer wanted an after-prom."They aren't really interested in being out until 5 a.m.," he said. "Now, the prom guests plan events all weekend long."So, Knoch's prom has shifted to a dinner, crowning and dance. "An elegant evening," he called it. "By 1 o'clock, they are on their way home," he said.Rappa and other advisers work each year to make the prom an occasion the students will always remember.Moniteau laminates its tickets. Most schools give favors like T-shirts or picture frames."This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Dick said.
