 |
|
School Board Members Recall Prom Nightsby KRISTEN ARMSTRONG, Staff Writer |
|
| The Sun Gazette recently
queried County Board members on their prom-night experiences. Now, it's
School Board members' turn. A sampling of responses: * Senior prom for Dave Foster took place in Raleigh, N.C. in 1971. “It was the Vietnam era, so we were taking everything seriously, except our clothes,” he said. “I remember wearing a tuxedo with bell bottoms and a blue ruffled formal shirt. I must have looked like a refugee from the Mod Squad!” Despite his wild threads, Foster was able to secure a date to the milestone event. “I think I defied the odds that year and got a date,” Foster said. “But it must not have been very memorable for either of us, because I don't remember much more.” Unfortunately there are no photos of Foster documenting his prom experience. “I'm sure the pictures would be embarrassing if they were ever revealed,” he said. * School Board member Ed Fendley's senior prom was in 1983 at Rolling Meadows High School in Illinois. He and his girlfriend, Sheila Cleek, spent the night dancing to a band playing what he calls “that great '80s music.” A highlight of the evening was when he had a moment to shine on stage. “When the band took a break, they made the mistake of letting some friends and me do some of our own favorite songs, which in those days were from the Clash and the Sex Pistols,” Fendley said. “There are no surviving photos, as the fashion police have destroyed them,” he said. * School Board Vice Chairman Frank Wilson told the Sun Gazette that his senior prom took place at Mary Potter Academy in Oxford, N.C., a “long time ago.” Although he can't remember whom he took as a date, he dressed to the nines for the occasion in a white jacket with black trousers, a white shirt and a black bow tie. He and his classmates got down to tunes played by a live band. “The music we danced to was very much back in the era of R&B,” Wilson said. “I can remember one of the songs was ‘60 Minute Man' by the Dominoes.” The prom was Wilson's “very first opportunity to go to a formal dance,” and he said he thought the gym where it was held was decorated beautifully. Wilson revisits his hometown relatively often and sees the site of his prom when he does. Many community and school functions take place at the gym where the event took place. School Board Chairman Libby Garvey and board member Sally Baird didn't attend their proms. We'll have their reaction in an upcoming edition. |
 Today he's a respected School Board member. Back in 1983, Ed Fendley was a teen who got up on stage and played Sex Pistols song at his prom. |