Golden luau: Great excuse to dance

By Sara Giboney
Published: March 8, 2010 in KearneyHub.com
http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/article_86fac1f8-2ae0-11df-8061-001cc4c002e0.html

KEARNEY, NEBRASKA - They arrived at the prom dressed in Hawaiian floral print shirts and dresses.

Each couple had their photo taken in front of a backdrop decorated with a beach scene and reading "Hawaiian Luau 2010."

Some partygoers talked with friends at their tables, which were decorated with sandboxes with mini umbrellas stuck in the sand.

Others enjoyed punch, coffee, fruit salad, Jell-O, cookies and a variety of meats and cheeses.

Many made their way to the dance floor with their partners.

The Hawaiian-luau-themed party was the 16th-annual Golden Age Prom Friday at the Petersen Senior Activity Center at Yanney Heritage Park.

 "This is really wonderful," Winona Whitney said.

Whitney and longtime friend Helen Poole rode to the prom in a van with other residents of Prairie View Gardens.

The women, who went to high school together, took a moment to remember their high school proms.

Whitney graduated in 1939, and Poole graduated in 1940.

Whitney said she was the head of the decorating committee. Poole's date to her high school prom later became her husband.

The prom is organized by University of Nebraska at Kearney Circle K and Kiwanis members.

Circle K is the collegiate chapter of Kiwanis, a community service group. Circle K regularly works with the Humane Society and Habitat for Humanity.

The group has between 15 and 20 members.

"It gets us out in the community," said Circle K president Kelsey Coolidge. "It's exposure for college students to deal with a different age level."

Circle K students talked and danced with seniors during the prom.

"We think it's fun, we dressed for the party," prom attendee Jan Eickmeier said. She wore a dress she bought in Hawaii, and her date, Al Zikmund, wore a floral shirt he bought in Hawaii.

Jim Cudaback provided the music, and businesses donated items that were given away during the event.

"This is great. It's a fun place to meet new people and have a good time together," said Barb Laursen, who attended the Golden Age Prom for the first time this year with her husband, Harold.

The Laursens spent most of their time on the dance floor. Barb said the Golden Age Prom reminded her of the many winters she and her  husband spent in Texas, where they often went dancing.