Bursting with Pride

Parents, you know how you swell with pride when your kids do something really cool? When they surprise you either with their enthusiasm or an ability that you were unaware they had? Well, I had that experience on Saturday night and it was shared with over 50 people!

On Saturday, Prom Plus held its 20th anniversary kick-off event in the courtyard of St. Luke’s of the Mountains church. The party was more of a thank-you celebration, an opportunity to recognize those partners of Prom Plus who, over the last 20 years, have assisted us in achieving this milestone. It’s partners like the YMCA that offers its facilities, the Glendale Unified School District that covered our insurance or Ken Allmon and his group who were there back in 1994 setting up for the first Prom Plus event and, more recently, at Prom Plus mornings, breaking down the decorations at the Y after a very long night to whom we wanted to say “thank you.” Of course, one of the goals of the evening was to ensure their ongoing support.

Mary O’Keefe sits on the Prom Plus board with me and spearheaded Saturday night’s event. Among other things, she coordinated the decorations and enlisted the help of Jean “Yes, I can get that” Maluccio, Jean’s daughter Julie and Julie’s friend Tracy. This trio coordinated all the food that was served to our guests and we couldn’t have pulled the party off without them.

Another key person Mary recruited was her own daughter Molly. Molly is home on summer break from college. She is an accomplished dancer and her mother utilized her vast talents to train our Prom Plus Club members (teenagers who attend Crescenta Valley High School and are part of the school’s Prom Plus Club) in a variety of dances.

The end result was a 10-minute montage of dances reflecting proms from the 1920s to today.

To say that the kids worked their tails off would be an understatement. Molly worked with them steadily over a two-week (or so) period and the end result was so much fun.

Watching the YouTube video of the performances, I was beaming from ear to ear. These kids had so much fun and the audience really seemed to enjoy their dances, too. I am so proud when I think of how hard they worked and how enthusiastically they performed.

If you want to check out their performance, visit www.youtube.com and type Prom Plus 20th Anniversary in the search bar or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHogsyErPm0.

  robin goldsworthy