
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 26, 1990                   TAG: 9004260367
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW SALEM, N.D.                                LENGTH: Medium

PROM IS BIG NIGHT OUT FOR THESE `SENIORS'

Jeff Johnson told classmates he was taking a senior from out of town to the high school prom. He didn't tell them that "senior" was his grandmother.

All eyes were on Johnson and his grandmother, Julia Burris, 78, of Park River, when they arrived at the prom with 34 other couples Friday night. They had a great time - dining, dancing, and cruising Main Street in Bismarck about 30 miles away.

"It was wonderful," Burris said Saturday. "Nobody fainted when I walked in, and they were all very nice and friendly. I really enjoyed it."

She and her grandson danced the first dance because the music was slow, she said.

"I didn't want to look ridiculous doing a fast one, so we left right after that," she said.

"We went to Bismarck for supper and then we cruised Main Street. We had fun. I didn't feel my age, that's for sure."

In Maud, Okla., Eric Bundy went one better and asked his great grandmother, Nettie Crawford, 77, to go with him to his junior prom Saturday night.

"My great grandpa died in November. She's all alone now. She doesn't get out much, maybe just to go to Seminole or something." Maud is about 15 miles from Seminole and 60 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.

Bundy was nervous about telling "the guys." But "they all thought it was pretty neat," he said. "Nobody has ever done it before."

Johnson said he decided to ask his grandmother to the prom because she won't be able to attend his May 20 graduation because of the graduation the same day of another grandchild.

"I was thinking of being a little different," he said. "And then my grandma's not going to be able to come down for graduation, so I figured she could come for the prom, the next best thing."

Burris said at first she thought he was kidding.

"Are you sure you want to do that," she said she asked several times. Friends "gave me a little more courage," when they told her it was an honor to be invited.

Johnson is president of his school's National Honor Society, a member of its wrestling and track teams, and plays in the band.

"It's really funny how much people assume," Johnson said.

When friends asked whether he and his date had a serious relationship, he replied:

"She's pretty special to me."

by CNB