PROM TALES, PART 2
|
Who invented prom, anyway? If your first prom wasn’t
perfect, try, try againZa za zoot!
By Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.comWhile expected to be memorable and romantic first forays into the world of adults, junior and senior dances were merely awkward affairs during which everyone wore way too much polyester and fretted over things like acne attacks that would last a lifetime in photos, tripping on the dance floor, and the goodnight kiss (Which way do we turn our heads? Where do noses go?).
Peer pressure demanded that we come up with the most righteous gown or tux, the bitchin' wheels and the rippa date, preferably one you were madly in love with, though in a pinch it seemed anyone would do -- cousins, neighbors, friends, best friends' older brothers, other girls' borrowed boyfriends. What kind of coming-of-age ritual is that? Where's the dignity?
Those who didn't get it right way back when can now correct the situation.
Friends of Kailua High School is hosting a Second Chance Prom Saturday as a fund-raiser for Kailua's Project Graduation.
The latter is an all-night drug- and alcohol-free party for Kailua's Class of 2002 on commencement night.
The former is a six-hour alcohol-optional party mostly for those 40 and up who'll be able to dance to the music of the '50s to '70s, eat a buffet dinner, bid on goods donated by the community, reminisce and rewrite their prom history.
Wayne Hikida, managing director for the insurance firm TIG Crum & Forster, came up with the idea as an alternative to the usual car washes and chicken sales.
"I mentioned it to my wife, and she thought it was a great idea. She never went to her prom, and I said, 'If I had known you, then I would have taken you.'"
Unfortunately, he still won't be able to take his wife, who will be on the mainland to celebrate the birth of the couple's granddaughter, so he invites anyone else who wants to show up stag.
Hikida, of Farrington's Class of '67, said he's taken reservations from several people who missed their proms and would like the experience of attending an old-fashioned prom.
"Our daughters and sons don't know how to have proms anymore," he said, "Dances now are like tribal rituals, where they dance in groups, not as couples. They don't even have to know how to dance; they just bounce up and down."
He also laments the loss of formality and the substitution of tiny bouquets for multiple strands of pikake. "At the old proms you would walk in the room and smell the scent of pikake and maile."
With buffet dinner, dancing and silent auction Second Chance Prom
Where: Koolau Golf Club Grand Ballroom
When: 5 to 11 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $40 per person, $75 per couple
Call: 526-1600
Before even setting foot in the room, many guys will recall the excitement of preparations that would take weeks. Hikida borrowed a calabash uncle's '66 Dodge Dart because he didn't want to be seen with his parents' station wagon.
"Think about it, letting a 17-year-old kid drive your new car; that's trust. It felt really cool," he said.
Otherwise, he doesn't remember much about the big night beyond listening to records by the Lettermen, Johnny Mathis and the Beatles, and hanging out at Likelike Drive-In afterward. He even lost the pictures.
Jill Kajikawa-Kent attended her prom at Roosevelt "many, many years ago," and while she remembers it as being enjoyable, she looks forward to attending this time with her husband, Pat Kent.
"We must have been in the same homeroom because our names start with the same letter, but I didn't know him, and he went to Kailua during his senior year," she said.
They didn't meet until her Volkswagen broke down and she brought it in to Jay Mac Volkswagen in Kaimuki, where he patched it up and won her heart.
These days, she works for the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, and he's a math teacher at Kailua Intermediate School. As an extracurricular activity, he sings and plays guitar for the Algorhythms -- comprising fellow teachers plus a student bass player -- who will be performing at the Second Chance Prom.
"My kids can't believe we're doing this," said Kajikawa-Kent. "You know how kids think they're older than parents now. My 18-year-old daughter said, 'Dad, you found your calling. I'm so proud of you.'"
The teens are the reason the adults got involved.
"This is the last year for us as parents to be with our kids before they turn 18 and go out into the world. Next year, we won't be able to influence them, so it's important to make them feel that they're a part of the community," Kajikawa-Kent said.
"We've had car washes where we've sent out notices and nobody came. But when we call them and they think someone's there for them, they come."
She, too, noticed the difference between her generation and her daughter's.
"Before, boys used to dance. With this group of kids, boys don't dance, and girls just get on the floor and do it.
"They take silly photos with props, and I saw one girl carrying a boy. They just have a different way of seeing things. This generation is more open, less intimidated. They live in the fast lane, these kids, and at the same time they're so innocent."
And Kajikawa-Kent does find one thing never changes. While worrying over the weekend about finding a dress for the Second Chance Prom, she recalled asking students to help out at a certain fund-raiser, only to be told, "I can't 'cause I have to buy my prom dress."
"I asked, 'All day?' and they said yes. One girl, who's something of a tomboy, said, 'It's gonna take me all day to figure out how to put the dress on.'"
Click for online
calendars and events.
