Welcome to the fifth edition of 97.9 The Hill’s Staff Picks!
This time, enjoy a blast from the past as the staffers from 97.9 The Hill reminisce on their prom experiences.
Come and take a walk down memory lane with us.
Read what advice our team would give to their past prom selves. See how styles change with some throwback pictures. Remember some songs you have long since forgotten.
And don’t forget to participate!
Be sure to tune into 97.9 The Hill or stream live on Saturday, May 23rd beginning at 7 PM for an on-air Prom for the whole family! Dust off your old dance moves and put on your “shelter in place best” and enjoy the Chapelboro Prom without leaving home!
Ron Stutts (Morning Show Host)
Ah…the prom. What memories do I have? Oh, man, where to begin?
I do remember my high school prom. Just not very well. I went at the end of my junior year, and then went again for my senior year in high school. I can’t tell you much about what happened, though, not because it wasn’t fun, but because both these special occasions took place when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and my memory only goes back so far.
The first year, I wasn’t really dating anybody, but there was this really nice girl in my class and I guess she wasn’t dating anybody at the time, either, so we went together. We weren’t very close friends. I didn’t know her very well, and vice versa. I just remember that we both had a decent time that night (at least I did) but the evening didn’t last very long for us. I’m sure there were lots of after-prom parties going on, but since we weren’t really a couple, we just called it a night early. I recall the evening fondly, but I swear, I can’t remember any details. I can tell you that she looked fabulous, though, and I will always appreciate the fact that she went to the prom with this total dumbass who can’t remember much now. Nothing to do with her; I just have a terrible memory after so much time has passed.
My 12th grade year, I had a regular girlfriend and we had dated pretty much our entire senior year. We went to the prom, but I swear, I can’t remember anything about that night at all! I just remember we were there.
Song of the night: Percy Sledge had a great song that came out in the spring of my junior year, and it was such a great love song that it was still popular the next year. It’s one of the greatest love songs of all time, in my opinion. I’m sure you know “When A Man Loves A Woman.” That’s my sole memory (and my soul memory, too, come to think of it!) Music was a huge part of my life way back then, as well!
Oh, and back then, it wasn’t as easy to take pictures. Cell phones with built-in cameras simply didn’t exist. It was a real pain to take photographs…not like now when everybody has thousands of pictures. But if I did have some photos from those two nights, they probably would have looked pretty much like this:
Aubrey Williams (General Manager)
My prom was in 1994, so I am getting some help from my friends to recount some of the details, which aren’t super fresh in my memory at this point.
My prom was at the Omni Shoreham Hotel on Calvert Street in Washington DC, which overlooks Rock Creek Park. My date was Mark Stevens, who was dreamy. I wore a long brown silk sheath dress (v-neck, side slit) – I still have it, and actually wore it to an event not long ago. I still really like it! Not sure what that says about me or my style…
Favorite moment from the night: Driving to the beach after the prom – having a huge bonfire with all my friends.
Song of the night: Nirvana’s Nevermind came out my freshman year of high school and the whole album was played a lot through those years. I’d say Smells Like Teen Spirit sums up my prom experience. (And for those who may not remember – Teen Spirit was the name of a popular deodorant at the time.
A word of advice: Write it all down! Then you will remember it 25 years later. Also – make a high school photo album.
Brighton McConnell (News Director)
I went to both my junior and senior year proms, and I remember having a blast! I don’t remember the themes of either nights, but I do remember I wore a coral-colored bowtie junior year and an aquamarine bow-tie senior year. I had a date both times, but went with a larger group of friends both years as well. My high school held the prom at a venue in Asheville, so it always was a bit of a trip to and from. But we made it fun by carpooling one year and someone’s dad got a limo for us the next year!
I found prom fun because I thought it was cool for everyone to be dressed up and a little out of their element. Going out to dinner as a group beforehand was great and then dancing until you’re exhausted felt like a fun way to cap off the year before exams began.
A fun tradition my friend group had: getting breakfast food whenever we decided to leave. One year we went to IHOP and the other we went to Waffle House in the early hours of the morning!
Song of the night: I distinctly remember senior year dancing like crazy to ‘Timber’ by Pitbull and Ke$ha. Don’t know why that one stuck with me compared to all the other early-2010’s pop hits… but I do know it was a fun time!
Elle Kehres (Reporter)
I only went to my senior prom as I felt I would be missing out if I didn’t! I ended up asking my own date who went to a different school from mine – which maybe in hindsight wasn’t the best idea as he didn’t know anyone and it was semi-awkward.
The venue was awesome though. After taking pictures on the cliffs (typical California) we took a party bus to the Natural History Museum in LA – the theme was aptly named “Night at the Museum.” That was probably the best part. There was a room for dancing, a room for karaoke and if dancing and singing weren’t your thing we had full access to the museum to look around the exhibits! We were dancing among the dinosaurs. Pretty cool if you ask me. Also, In-N-Out at the end of the night was tradition.
Song(s) of the night: I feel like two songs that remind me heavily of my senior year (2013) were Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Mirrors by Justin Timberlake.
A word of advice: Stop stressing about the date and just go have fun. My date didn’t really like to dance and I wish I could have told 17-year-old me to just be more confident, go with friends and have a ball stag! Also, girl, wear shorter heels. Those things are going to come off one hour into the event anyways.
Kenny Dike (Billing, Broadcast Traffic, & Sales Operations Manager)
I don’t remember much detail about the high school proms, not for the obvious reasons that prom night may be a little blurry for some on the memory front, but because the late 90s were a long time ago! Heck, March of 2020 was a long time ago!
I do remember the fancy dinners beforehand, a couple at local restaurants, and one was hosted at my friend’s house in Chapel Hill, and for some reason my parents were there!
Song(s) of the night: “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia. “1979” by Smashing Pumpkins
A word of advice: Take more pictures – even though I know there were only 24 available in a roll of film and it took a couple weeks to get them developed.
*Note from Kenny about his photo: “That was about the time I took my first Photoshop class, so here’s me with Elizabeth Hurley and Shania Twain! 90s!”
Ali Evans (Account Executive)
I have attended 6 proms, so narrowing it down is tricky! I will say, looking back at all of them, I had so much more fun getting ready with my friends and spending time with them, than I did with any guy. Even with a “serious boyfriend,” the fun times with your friends are the memories you’ll keep.
My senior year prom is the most memorable because I was with my three best friends. I’m lucky enough to still have the same best friend from high school, so I love looking back on these memories we shared together before college, marriage, careers and kids.
Favorite moment from the night: After the prom, my parents pulled the ultimate cool-parents move and we all spent the night at their house, dates and all. We went back and watched movies, fell asleep on the floor, and in the morning my mom went and picked up Sunrise for everyone. (Falling asleep on the floor now would probably send me to Urgent Care.)
Song of the night: “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy is the most memorable – which is funny because it’s not really a “prom song” but it’s really fun to sing at the top of your lungs while you’re barefoot on the dance floor.
A word of advice: Don’t get caught up in the details – just have fun. You might think the color of your flowers really matters – it doesn’t. Just have a good time with your friends.
Anna Griffin (Creative Account Coordinator)
While I attended junior prom as well, my senior prom was so much more fun! My best friend and I decided to go together with our own spin on the “Masquerade” theme. Mostly because we forgot to buy masks until the very last minute and a Party City was nearby. Could we have picked actual masquerade masks? Absolutely, but this fit our personalities so much better.
My date actually came down with what was probably the flu day of. I told him it would be totally fine if we didn’t go! But he insisted on powering through. He probably would’ve been okay if our parents didn’t make us take pictures in the rain right before the dance, but our “singing in the rain” remake was a highlight for sure. My least favorite moment was when all of my friends nominated me for prom queen as a joke, and standing up on stage while having to pretend I campaigned to be queen was a nightmare when there were girls up there who actually put in the effort to make signs and other promotional material *lol*. Pretty sure one of my friends even made an Instagram account called “annagriffin4promqueen” or something of the sort. Hilarious, but so embarrassing. Luckily the title went to someone who actually earned it!
Song of the night: My senior prom was in 2015 so I’m pretty sure Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars was at the top of the list for us. Still is.
A word of advice: While I loved the look of my dress, the skirt was HEAVY. Not to mention long. My heels ripped up the bottom pretty bad by the end of the night unfortunately. PICK A DIFFERENT DRESS!
Jada Jarillo (Marketing and Operations Manager)
This was my Sophomore year in high school, and the prom was held, as it was every year, at the Hickory Convention Center. I don’t really remember much about it except that I wished it was held in our high school gym instead – we were just in a large dark room with tables lined up around the sides. I remember help making decorations for it beforehand as part of student government but I don’t remember actually seeing them there – I think they just got swallowed up in the dark.
I’m guessing my favorite moment of this night was probably just getting ready for the prom rather than the prom itself.
Song of the night: I’m going to go with “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.
A word of advice: If I got give my past self a word of advice I’d definitely say ditch the date and have fun with friends instead!
Tracey Himmel (Account Executive)
This was my Senior Prom and the theme was In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins- the song about divorce with the big drum solo at the end- so romantic, not! I went with a good friend and we had a blast.
Song of the night: Anything Madonna. We had great 80’s music!
A word of advice: Have a great time. So glad that kids now can go to prom without dates, because it was stressful trying to figure out who I wanted to go with. Thankfully, John, my date invited himself to go with me so that was easy! Oh, and corsages suck.
Aaron Keck (Afternoon Show Host)
*honorable mention even though Aaron did not attend his prom*
I was on the forensics team in high school and my senior prom happened to fall on the same weekend as an end-of-year spring tournament at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan. (If you’re at all familiar with the Grand Hotel, you know it wasn’t a hard decision to make.)
The hot song of the moment was Hanson’s MMMBop – but we were seniors about to head to college, so we were also big fans of “The Freshmen” by the Verve Pipe. (I guess we were pessimistic about what college was going to be like?)
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