HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) - Senior citizens and students far junior in age and dance experience got to share the dance floor at a special prom in Hastings.
The Future Business Leaders of America club hosted the sixth annual Senior Prom Sunday at Adams Central High School.
Drew and Jan Heady eagerly joined the fun as they did the waltz, polka and two-step.
“Back then, my wife got all dressed up for prom but was never asked to dance,” Drew Heady told the Hastings Tribune (https://bit.ly/1t4YsTY ). “I’m sure she was just as beautiful then as she is now,” he said of his wife of 40 years.
Residents of area assisted living centers were invited, and some of the students asked their grandparents to attend.
“It’s a wonderful time for the senior citizens and parents, and it’s a wonderful time for the kids,” said Denise Schuck, who sponsors the business club and founded the event. “I look forward to this more than the actual prom. It’s an opportunity to see kids mingling with the older generations. We don’t have that enough anymore.”
The DJ visited several eras and types of music.
“Sometimes we get laughed at by the older folks,” said Eliza Donley, an Adams Central sophomore. “It’s a lot of fun, though. They are really good dancers. I was out of breath a few times.”
Many of the adults described traditional dancing as a lost art and said there are fewer and fewer opportunities for young people to learn or practice traditional dance styles.
Nonetheless, there were opportunities for the young to teach their elders some new steps. That included playing of “The Wobble” so the teens could lead some of their guests through the modern movements.
Frederick Paulus, 96, of Hastings, eagerly jumped in.
“I don’t know why these young girls want to dance with an old geezer like me,” Paulus said with a laugh. “One girl talked me into that ’Wobble’ dance, and afterward I thought, ’Man, I’m going to be wobbling out of here!’”
___
Information from: Hastings Tribune, https://www.hastingstribune.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.