Wow, my prom! There's a blast from the past. My school had one prom for both juniors and seniors to attend. My senior year prom was a great time, but I'm going to write about my junior year prom. I have an interesting perspective because I actually planned it, or at least helped plan it. I was my class treasurer my sophomore, junior and senior year, running for and being elected to the position under such witty slogans as "Put your money where your Matt is," or "Mo' money, No problems." But the amount of time and planning that went into it was a lot of effort, but fun. To raise money I got to do things like raise prices at the football concession stands and things like that. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We just tweaked things by 25 cents here or there ;) After all, we were planning the prom for both classes and didn't want to disappoint!

We had our prom in Atlantic City at a new Sheraton hotel there with a great grand ballroom. We had a Bruce Springsteen (typical Jersey) "Secret Garden" (settle down, 'Jerry McGuire' fans) theme. Everything worked out well. The entire theme was all a garden style. Nothing too feminine, but just enough to jive with the song. It was a great time with some of my close friends. I think the best part about it was that the playing field is leveled at your prom. At least it was at mine. You hang out with and get on the dance floor with people you wouldn't normally hang out with. It's a good time all around.

After the prom, it's custom for everyone, it seems, in Jersey and Philly to go to Wildwood. I was from the shore, so there was no thrill in that. So our high school had recently started an "after prom" idea. It was mostly to keep students safe and alcohol-free, and the incentives for going were borderline ridiculous. Some people literally walked out with hundreds of dollars! Lots of games and prizes, gift certificates and fun. And all of it was donated by parents groups, community organizations and businesses. Lots of volunteers and planning went into it and we were all grateful. All in all it was a fun, memorable time.