ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605200013
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: HALE SHEIKERZ STAFF WRITER
The Christiansburg High School prom was not a one-night party for Angela Mills. The theme, decorations, colors, just the right disc jockey. For months, these details took over Mills' life and the lives of the other juniors on the prom committee.
In the 48 hours before the big dance, Mills, as head of the committee, had something to do every minute. With her bedroom stuffed with silver, teal and black balloons, the queen's tiara and king's crown (which she made herself), it's no wonder her friends called her "the prom queen."
Spring means prom fever in high schools throughout the New River Valley. While some local schools hold their big event at hotels, the Christiansburg students transformed their school cafeteria into a grand ballroom May 11, complete with fountain and a balloon-covered arch to honor the seniors.
That was less expensive than renting a hotel ballroom, but it still cost the junior class about $2,500, said Ivy Bukilla, junior class sponsor.
Prom tickets at $16 a couple ($21 for procrastinators on prom night) covered these expenses and saved the juniors from a year of fund-raisers, as at other schools.
Although in-school proms are cheaper, they are lots of work for the prom committee. The day before the dance, Laura Higgins, Kristin Habeeb and Mills stayed long after school to continue the decorating that others had started during school hours. The prom was less than 24 hours away.
Dressed in T-shirts, shorts and tennis shoes, the juniors worked around the cafeteria, twisting streamers into the right shape, climbing the ladder to tape decorations to walls and columns and still making last-minute decisions. How were they going to make an hourglass out of paper around the column in the middle of the cafeteria?
With only an hour dinner break at Mills' house, the students worked until 9:30 p.m. And the decorations still weren't complete.
At 8 a.m., they were back to finish transforming the cafeteria with paper, balloons and streamers into a setting for "Enchanted Moments." This time they had to finish. The prom was less than 12 hours away. Plus, they still had to get themselves ready.
'Night of freedom,'
doesn't come free
The high school prom is more than just a dance. "It's a night of freedom," Habeeb said. "You get to stay out late." A bigger deal is the time, expense and effort students put into getting ready, particularly the girls.
Many couples share the cost of flowers (he buys her a corsage, she buys him a boutonniere), prom tickets and prom photos, which alone can cost $34.
For the guys, the major expense is renting a tuxedo and shoes, which usually run $50 to $70. Guys who want "tails" pay more. That's a bargain compared to the girls dresses, which can cost as much as $250.
Many girls start looking for a prom dress in March, before they even have a date.
"It's harder to find a dress than a date. ... First get dresses then get dates," said senior Christa Hilt. Add in shoes, jewelry, a manicure and a couple of visits to a tanning salon, and the cost can mount up.
Mills paid $150 for her blue-sequined gown at the Second Hand Prom Dress Sale in Roanoke. Shoes and jewelry were included, but the dress had to be altered ($100) and the shoes didn't fit. New shoes were $50. She also had her nails done for $24.
Habeeb's boyfriend attends Cave Springs High in Roanoke, so she had two proms. She bought a new dress and shoes for her prom and wore a dress she already had to his prom. But she still needed new shoes
To cope with the double prom expenses, she paid for the dinner, pictures and tickets for her prom and her boyfriend paid for his prom.
And then there are the extra expenses: tanning ($35 for nine sessions), hose (Hilt bought eight pairs because she didn't know what shade she liked) and the garter ($3 to $6). In addition, the girls decorate the garter with beads, flowers and ribbons to match the dress for the traditional garter ceremony.
But not all students spent a lot of money. Laura Higgins of Christiansburg spent $75 for her dress, $16 to have her hair done and $16 for the prom tickets.
Some of the primping, though, is free. Eight hours before the Saturday night prom, five friends rotated through Mills' house to have their hair done. Throughout the afternoon, Mills curled, twisted, braided, and twisted and curled some more - all with less than half of a bottle of hair spray.
"It can't be too crusty," Mills said as she added baby's breath to Marcella Broache's braided and curled hair.
In addition to Mills' cafeteria decorating skills, "Angela is also the hair lady," bragged her friend, Christa Hilt, a senior. All the while, the girls babbled about everything. Where they were going to dinner. Clothes. Makeup. Hose. And the weather.
"I can't believe it's raining," Hilt said. "It's ruining my day."
By 3:30 p.m., the hairdos were done. Mills was dressed and ready for the first event of the prom weekend. She and her date, Matthew Crowgey, met 12 other couples at the Shell station in Christiansburg and carpooled in several cars to the Kabuki, a Japanese restaurant in Roanoke. On this prom night, it had reservations for more than 600 people.
The dress for dinner was casual, if only to keep spilled or splattered cuisine away from that prom gown, and to mollify the guys who resisted starched shirts until the last moment.
'The best night
in the world'
The cafeteria was ready for "Enchanted Moments" as 250 Christiansburg High juniors, seniors and guests milled around gossiping, the girls in black cocktail dresses, sequined shifts, beaded, laced and even strapless gowns, the guys with cummerbunds to match the their dates' dresses.
A few couples sat by themselves not talking to anyone - not even to each other.
To capture the Kodak moment, students waited in line for up to an hour to have their photos taken. Two shots per couple - just in case someone blinked.
The photo line grew shorter. Couples started dancing beneath the disco ball. By 10 p.m., two hours after the prom began, couples and groups of girls and boys were dancing to everything from Eric Clapton to Pearl Jam. As the beat got faster, a pile of colorful shoes collected near the dance floor.
Just before 11 p.m., seniors gathered around the water fountain to parade beneath the balloon-covered arch as their names were announced. Seniors Helen Smartt and David Rhudy were named prom queen and king.
Then came the school's traditional garter ceremony, a favorite among the guys. They get to remove the garters after their dates hike up their dresses to reveal garters decorated with beads, ribbons and flowers that matched their dresses. Except for Mills - her garter was in the prom colors of black, silver and teal instead.
The garters ended up on the guys' sleeves or as headbands as the prom wound down shortly before midnight. Students began leaving to change clothes or grab a bite to eat before the after-prom party, which started at New River Valley Mall at midnight.
Hours later, when an exhausted Mills and her friends left the after-prom party around 5 a.m. and crammed into a minivan, they headed to Shoney's for breakfast. It would not be open for another 20 minutes. They decided they were too tired to eat, anyway.
By 6 a.m. she was home and in bed, where she stayed until 3 p.m.
"It was the best night in the world. It was so much fun," Mills said.
LENGTH: Long : 141 linesby CNB