Melissa's Prom Story

After three years of mediocre school dances, I wasn't too excited about my senior prom. That is, until I found the perfect red dress. It had a sort of flamenco flair and I felt exotic and different in it. I had to wade through a lot of Laura Ashley dresses to find this hot little number back in 1989. I still have that dress and although I know I'll never fit into it again (sigh!) at least I can still conjure up good memories of a young woman who really wanted to stand out from the crowd.

The funny thing is, an FFA market pig almost kept me from my prom! People might find it hard to believe now, but I was a serious ag student and very active member of Chico High's FFA program. I sold market animals through 4-H and FFA to finance a college fund. (And to think I used those funds at radical San Francisco State University!) As it turned out, my senior prom was the same day as the Junior Livestock Auction at the Silver Dollar Fair. And I had a late sale number. My memory is of the sky actually starting to change, it was getting so late in the day.

By the time my pig actually sold, I had precious little time to gloat over my check. It was time to get showered and ready for prom! The thing with working around livestock all day, especially livestock being handled by sweaty teenagers and 4-H tykes, is that you never quite feel clean after only one shower. But that's all I had time for. So although my dress made me feel exotic, I still couldn't help checking myself throughout the night for traces of livestock smell. That stuff just sticks with you!

My date, a good friend who I may have been a bit clueless towards, turned out to be a wonderful gentleman who created a beautiful prom experience for me, more than making up for three years of bad school dances. He wore a skinny 80's style red tie to match my dress and we looked smashing--in that 80's flamenco kind of way!

Melissa Prom 1989

Sharon's Prom Story

The first prom I went to was my Junior/Senior prom. I don't know what I was thinking but I wore a sweater and a skirt! My boyfriend and I were dropped off at the prom by his mother who was going to pick us up when it was over. I was a bit disconcerted when I saw that I was the only girl in a sweater and skirt but since we were stuck there until the end I decided to have fun anyway. We danced and had a great time!! I found out it really doesn't matter what you wear, it's all about having a good attitude and having fun!!

For my senior prom my mom made my dress. I didn't want pastels and tule, etc. so we picked out red taffeta and put black lace over the top giving it a spanish look. Also, I didn't like corsages, especially on my shoulder so my boyfriend bought me a wrist corsage (I wore it but still didn't like it). I seemed to "dance to my own tune" back then and I guess I still do.

Hope all the prom goers this year have the time of their lives!!!

Sharon Prom 1957

T.H.'s Prom Story

Junior Prom

I have to start this story while I was at home getting ready. I was so excited, the first time I had ever had a reason to get all fancied up. I had a black dress that I bought while visiting my mom in San Francisco. It was lace and came down to just above my knees and was sleeveless. I loved this dress. Although looking back, I don't know what I was thinking. My sisters helped me get ready and did my hair. They helped me pick out jewelry and other accessories. My hair was curled into loose ringlets and pulled back. I wore my stepmoms necklace and earrings that were silver and black. My shoes where high strappy heals.

Once I was dressed and ready I came out of the bathroom and showed my dad and stepmom how I looked. My dad took one look at me and said, "I don't know if I am comfortable with you leaving the house looking like that." I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. I reminded him that I showed him the dress after I bought it and he didn't have a problem with it then. His answer to this was, "I never saw it on you." I was about to cry when my stepmom came over and told him that I looked great and he shouldn't worry about it.

Then my dad decided that in order to keep my date in line he was going to clean his gun while we waited for Johnathan to show up. I was so embarrased. I tried to convince him not to but it was too late, Johnathan was there!!! He came into the house and I am sure that he was scared of my father but he acted fine. My dad just sat there cleaning his gun and asked when he was going to have me home. Johnathan asked the perfect question, "When would you like me to have her home?" My dad smiled and said 2 am.

We left and drove to the prom. It was held at a hotel in the next town over. I am sure we talked along the way but I am not sure what about. (it has been a while since I was in high school). The dance itself wasn't much to talk about. It was mostly the same people I talked to at school sitting at a table talking. I don't remember dancing much but I am sure I did. I mostly remember sitting at the table talking to my friends and taking lots of pictures.

After the dance, a bunch of my friends and I decided to go to the lake. Once there we decided it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping. That was not a good idea!!! It was way too cold and dark! It was fun to watch one of my male friends run into the water and jump about 10 feet into the air and scream like a girl!!

We then went to Denny's and got some food before Johnathan drove me home. It was a good time.


Senor Prom

Senor prom was completely different from my junior prom. First of all I actually had a boyfriend, Chuck, and my parents were out of town. This time I wore a full length blue dress. It was also sleeveless and lacy and form fitting. I loved that dress. I thought I looked beautiful. My friend Beth came over to my house to help me get ready. She didn't go to the same school so she wasn't going to the Prom. My hair was curled in loose rings and clipped back behind my ears. I wore matching blue strappy heals, and pearl earrings and necklace.

Chuck drove up to my house in a blue rental car that was almost the same color as my dress! He told me he had planned that when I told him what color my dress was. We took a lot of pictures at my house before we left for the Prom.

The Prom was at a hotel up in the mountains. There was still snow on the ground around the hotel. It was beautiful, but cold! Once inside we took lots of pictures and made our way to the tables for dinner. I think I sat with pretty much the same people that I did at my Junior prom. The food wasn't anything great but since it was at prom it seemed great at the time.

I danced most of the night. They played a video of different school events and people from our class. Although it was a well made video, I was rather bored. Since I never really did anything to get noticed in school and neither did my friends, there wasn't anyone I cared about in the video.

After the prom a bunch of us went back to my house, since my parents were out of town it seemed like a good place to go. We microwaved some pizza and played board games till the wee hours of the morning. It was a good night.

T.H. Prom 1994 and 1995

Adel's Prom Story

I went Los Molinos High School and attended my senior prom in 2001. Our class theme was "An Enchanted Evening". I really wanted to go because all my friends were going, and most importantly I knew it was one of those significant moments in a girl's life. Back then my parents (especially my mom) were very strict and the only school functions we were allowed to go to were homecoming and school day trips, so you can understand why my chances of going to prom were very slim, not to mention my sister was not allowed to go to hers.

As prom was getting closer and closer I still couldn't get the nerve to ask my parents to let me go. I went ahead and bought my ticket and prom dress, hoping that if I bought them I would at least be prepared, just in case my parents decided by some miracle to bend the rules for me. I waited as long as I could that day, literally a few hours before prom started, waiting for the right moment. I walked into my parent's room and asked them if I could go. My parents both looked at each other for a brief moment and agreed, but told me I had to be home by 11:00. The prom started around 9:00 so that didn't really give me that much time, but I figured beggars can't be choosers and was content just the same. I called my cousins wife and she came over and did my hair. My dress was a long glittery turquoise color, with spaghetti straps, and it criss crossed in the back (I still have my dress).

I had so much fun that night. It didn't really matter that I didn't have time to get a date because I spent the whole night with my friends and danced with this guy I had a huge crush on. If I could, I would do it all over again in a heart beat.

Adel Prom 2001

Maria's Prom Story

Mine isn't much of a prom story (or at least there isn't going to be a movie written about it), but the one thing that I will always remember is how good it felt to dress-up in what I thought was the best looking dress in the world.

Picture it: shiny peachy color with a big bow right on top of my butt; my shoes were white, and of course they had tiny bows in the front. I had really long hair and I wore it pinned to the side with...a big bow!!! Oh my gosh!!!! Anyhow, I'm glad that I had that experience; I'll always remember the excitement of dressing up, fixing my hair, and waiting for my date!

Maria Prom 1985

Theresa's Prom Story

Well, I wish I had a prom story for you. I didn't go to one prom during my high school years. It is one of my big regrets. It's an important event and one you will most likely wish you had a memory of. Find a way to participate - with or without help. Memories are what its all about.

Theresa 1982

Linda's Prom Story

My Senior "Ball", which is what our prom was called at Red Bluff High in 1977, was a bittersweet night. It was so long ago that I don't remember the price of gas or a loaf of bread, or anything else for that matter!

I made my dress which was a long sundress that consisted of many ruffles. It was made out of a "lovely" red and white seersucker fabric (note the sarcasm) with lots of white cotton eyelet trim and a white butterfly applique on the bodice for an extra nice touch of fashion genius?!!?? My date had a matching red shirt, cream corduroy pants, and a cream corduroy vest concocted by his industrious "Suzie Homemaker" girlfriend..........me.

We met several other couples at the Lassen Steak House in Vina for dinner and the evening seemed to be progressing nicely. For reasons that I can no longer recall, my boyfriend and I got into a very heated disagreement and we spent the entire evening arguing. I was pouting when they announced the "Senior Most" awards at midnight. The last award of the evening went to the "Class of '77 Cutest Couple" and when I heard our names it was very hard for me to walk up there with the guy. I sort of dragged myself to the stage when the infamous Tehama County photographer, Ralph Ehorn, decided that we needed to kiss for the yearbook picture. YUCK!!! The last thing I wanted to do was kiss my date at that moment in front of my peers! But I was a good sport and gave him a pretty friendly kiss.

It turns out that was a good thing because now I have something to show my grandkids. You see I've been married to my "prom date" for 30 years now and he would still wear anything I made for him! (Luckily for him I don't sew much anymore!)

Linda Prom 1977

T.D.'s Prom Story

Yes -- turning the hands of time WAY BACK, it was 1985 (Hanford High School, CA) and I remember thinking with my best friend that it was just important that we WENT to the dance, (since I was at the time without a steady boyfriend) and that it really didn't matter who the date was (within reason!). She arranged for me to go with her boyfriends' best friend. We just wanted to wear pretty dresses, new shoes, and the latest hair style, makeup trends, etc.! With Madonna being ALL the rage -- as if you couldn't tell by the lace gloves and hair bow -- our options were endless!

My best friend is still my best friend, to this day. We've known each other since we were 12 years old. We got an award at our recent 20 year HS reunion for being the ones there with the longest friendship!

She ended up being married for a few years to the guy in the pic - but I was left behind that night in 1985, alone, at somebody's house (at an after party) by the guy who was my date. He left me there after he 'got back together' with his girlfriend and left with her while I was in the restroom - what nerve!

I should have known what the night ahead would hold as the night started out bad when I sat down to get in the car next to the guy -- the whole back zipper of my strapless dress split -- ALL the way down to my waist! I had to go back in the house and get my friends' mom to sew the zipper closed right on my body -- we carried on with dinner, the dance, etc., but at the end of the night I cut off the dumb dress and threw it away!!! It was a sign of something I wanted to forget! You can't tell that by looking at the pictures, luckily!

So, to see now that the boys are conveniently 'cut out' of this pic really drive that message home - ALL these years later -- it's the friendships that matter!

Have fun - prom go-ers! Enjoy time with your FRIENDS and take a MILLION pictures!

T.D. Prom 1985

Linda's Prom Story

I was never much into the whole prom thing when I was in high school, but my senior year my best friend and I decided that we should probably go to at least one. We chose to go with guys who were "just friends" to avoid all the anxiety of "does he like me?", "will he kiss me?", "do I want him to kiss me?", etc. Some of our other friends decided to do the same thing and we all agreed to meet up at the prom instead of arriving together. My "date" and I got Chinese takeout and took it to Ide Adobe park to eat. We wore just our regular clothes so we didn't have to worry about getting dresses and suits dirty. We had a great time, no pressure, just laughing and having a good time. Except there was this big black bird that just would not leave us alone! He kept squawking at us and swooping down to try to get our food. We would toss a few crumbs a distance away from us and he would gobble that up and then look at us and keep squawking and swooping! I think he ate more than we did.

To avoid the big price tag of a formal, my mom made my dress and he wore a suit he already had. We figured the evening was more about the fun we would have and not the clothes... plus we didn't have to worry that someone else would be wearing the same thing! My dress was a soft peach floral and my hair, since it was the 80's, was feathered and locked in place with a lot of hair spray. His was too.

We met our friends there and had a total blast! We all danced with each other's "dates" and laughed and laughed... especially when I slipped on a streamer and landed on my butt in the middle of the dance floor! But we were having such a great time I didn't care. We stayed until the very end and ended the evening by going to Shari's to eat. It was such a great evening... no pressure, no disappointments, just pure fun... one of my favorite memories from high school.

Linda, class of '83

Jo's Prom Story

It was 1996, the year in which stamps cost 32 cents, a gallon of gas was $1.22, DVD’s were launched in Japan, EBay started its online auctioning, and Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) had Renee Zellwiger at “Hello”. Yes, this was my year of my senior prom and what an event it was.

Being an avid athlete in school, I was never able to get to any dances on time. But this year was even better. I had arrived after a softball tournament that day with the most wonderful “farmer’s tan”. (Yes, you can get tan in the San Francisco fog). My dress electric blue, my shoes more silver than a brand new quarter, and my hair made crunchy by the mass amounts of hair spray. But regardless I was ready to dance the night away.

Just having broken up with a boyfriend of two years, I had met a new boy a few weeks before. He was an older boy (two years out of school), who I thought would be the most fantastic date ever. Boy was I wrong. My date insecure about the looks and stares of all the talk around him and I. He spent the whole night talking to my one friend for security. He didn’t want to dance, eat, or even hang in the social circles that surrounded each table. It probably didn’t help that my ex’s friends were staring him down the whole time. But regardless it was about me and my friends and what a fun time we had. The night was long and the memories still to this day have forever been engraved in my mind. Prom is what you make of it and we definitely had a good time!

Jo Prom 1996

A.H.'s Prom Story

My prom was at Red Bluff High School in 1989. I went with my senior year boyfriend (who I actually continued to date after high school for about 4 years). My dress was strapless silver and white, fitted along the bodice and then ruffles at the bottom. He had a white tux and I think a silver tie and cummerbund.

My date, J.P., was on the high school baseball team and they were in the playoffs that year. Unfortunately, their playoff game was in Redding the same day as prom, and I think they went into overtime. I don't remember if they won or not. Anyway, by the time he got to Red Bluff, got dressed, we did the whole family taking pictures gig, and went back up to Redding for dinner, we didn't have time to eat at a real restaurant. So we went to Burger King drive thru and ate in his truck at the Kmart parking lot. He had a black/dark grey Chevy Silverado step side. Those were cool then. I remember feeling really disappointed about dinner, but what could I do?

So prom was at the Elks Lodge in Red Bluff. Ehorns took the photos. I remember we danced a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. J.P. was in a different social clique than I was, so I was not friends with or even that comfortable around the girls that came to prom with his friends. So I just kind of hung out by myself and with my date when he wasn't with his buddies.

Afterwards, we were supposed to go to someone's house for a party. Somehow we had a bottle of vodka in the truck (I don't remember how it got there), and as we were driving to the party, we were pulled over by a cop. Since my dress was so puffy at the bottom, I pretty much sat on the bottle of vodka, trying to cover it with my dress while the officer talked to my boyfriend. The officer never saw the vodka and we were on our way. By that time though, it was late, we were relieved we didn't get caught, and just skipped the party and went back to his house. I stayed the night at his house (yes, his parents were there and my parents knew), but nothing freaky happened.

So my overall memories of my prom are that it wasn't great, but it wasn't all that bad either. At least I had a date that I really liked and I had fun getting dressed up and going. But it wasn't a life changing event either.

A.H., Prom 1989

Tina's Prom Story

I went to winter formal with my first "real" boyfriend, Cliff. I bought my very first formal dress (besides flower girl dresses), a black slinky velvet number with a slit up the side and a pearl at the center of the bodice (still have the dress!). I was incredibly nervous, since this would be mine and Cliff's first actual date. Cliff wore a tux with a vest--it had a black and silver geometric design on it--very cool.

The way he asked me to the dance was really funny. We had only dated a few weeks, and really just hung out together at school. One day, after the bell rang at the end of lunch we said our goodbyes and he walked out of the room to go to class. Suddenly, he came running back into the room, and shouted "Hey, Winter Formal! Are we going or not?" I nodded, surprised and thrilled that he wanted to go. He said "Thought so." and ran back out.

My best friend, Carrie, her sister Christy and I cooked dinner, pasta primavera (Carrie and I were in nutritional science that year and that dish had been an assignment. It was pretty tasty!) We ate at Carrie's house, the three of us and our dates plus our friend Leana and her date Chris.

We got photos taken first as we arrived, then danced all night. My feet hurt so much, and Cliff and I kissed until our lips were numb. Afterward we went to Denney's for a while, then to Chris's house and hung out until I had to be home. I thought that was the most amazing night ever.

Tina, winter formal 1995