A different kind of senior prom

LYNN – For one summer night in Lynn, more than 200 senior citizens are expected to be transported back in time to their high school days for their very own prom.Seven students from Lynn-based nonprofit Building Bridges Through Music, which supports arts and music for area youth, are hosting the prom June 10 as a community-service event and fundraiser. While party revelers of all ages are welcome, the prom is aimed at those over 75.”What we’re doing is bridging generations,” said Doreen Murray, the artistic program director for the Lynn-based nonprofit Building Bridges Through Music.This is actually the second year Building Bridges students are hosting the prom. More than 150 people showed up at Lynn Arts for the first one, doubling expectations, Murray said. This year it will be held at a bigger venue – the Lynn Museum – to fit an expected 200 senior citizens and their friends, she said.Ten-year-old Autum Chandler of Malden is on the planning committee for this year’s prom. She said she’s excited for the theme of Old Hollywood.”There’s going to be singing and dancing and lots of lights and red carpet,” she said.Chandler and fellow planner Sashjenelle Ince, 17, said guests will be greeted by a balloon arch of red, gold and purple balloons that will frame a red carpet where attendees and their dates can have their picture snapped.Inside a live band and a DJ will play tunes from the 1930s onwards, and dapper male escorts from Lynn high schools will usher guests around and serve as dance partners for those coming stag, they said. All senior citizens will receive a free boutonniere or corsage.”We’re taking them back to their red carpet days,” said Ince, the planning committee’s elected chairperson.For many senior citizens, it will be the first prom they’ve ever attended, according to artistic director Murray.Murray said many of today’s golden generation missed their high school prom due to a variety of factors, including wars that wracked America when senior citizens were coming of age, segregation that prevented many minorities from attending dances and immigrants for whom prom is a new phenomenon.”Prom is unique to the U.S.,” she said.In addition to the Hollywood theme, Chandler said the prom night will stress multiculturalism. She said translators will be on hand and senior citizens can enjoy food and music from around the world – from Spanish to Chinese to Italian cuisine.”Even if you’re from a different culture, you should still come,” Chandler said.Chandler, Ince and fellow Building Bridges planners Stefanny Rosario, Loida Rosario; Hailey Rosario, Joharris Byas and Shereece Doman have been working hard for weeks to put the prom together.But Ince said seeing senior citizens enjoy their moment in the sun is worth it.”They come in their prom dresses – oh so cute,” she said. “It brings joy to their faces.”And for Chandler, one of the biggest rewards of the night is the money raised to help low-income youth attend a two-week summer camp on bullying at Building Bridges called Peace Camp. This summer, the cost is expected to run $300 per attendee, and Chandler hopes money raised at senior prom can defray some of that.”I know there are lot of kids who are bullied and they don’t want to fight,” she said.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected] You Go? Building Bridges Through Music will host the second annual senior prom for citizens from 4-8 p.m. on June 10 at the Lynn Museum & Historical Society, 590 Washington St. in Lynn. Food and live music, featuring The Eric Finland Trio, will be provided. Tickets are $15, or guests are invited to donate funds for the Peace Camp. Attendees 75 and older can attend for free, but all attendees must reserve tickets by June 1. To make a reservation, call or e-mail the Building Bridges music office at 781-479-8327 and [email protected]. Or call or e-mail Virginia Makkers at 781-962-0022 and [email protected]. Or call or e-mail Doreen Murray at 781-593-1849 and [email protected]