It was senior prom night Friday in Lawrence Township — whether you were 18 or 78.
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
It was senior prom night Friday in Lawrence Township — whether you were 18 or 78.
While Lawrence High School 12th-graders were celebrating their senior prom at The Mansion in Voorhees, a different kind of senior prom was in full swing at the Commons at Lawrence High School.
About 50 senior citizens, ranging in age from their early 60s to their early 90s, were treated to a special night out by the Lawrence High School Interact Club.
Like most proms, this one had its own theme — “Starry Starry Night.” Blue and white balloons were attached to the seats around the tables, which in turn were covered with sparkling confetti-like decorations scattered across the tablecloths.
The students set out a variety of desserts for the seniors. There was also a photographer who took portraits of the seniors, using a sheet as a backdrop.
And of course, there was a DJ — but there was not a note of big-band era music to be heard. The DJ played mostly upbeat tunes from the 1960s through the 1980s, designed to get the seniors out of their chairs and onto the dance floor. The seniors, in turn, showed the teenagers how to line dance.
Lawrence High School Interact Club members Abigail Scardelletti, Jason King and Chris Muzi said they wanted to hold a “senior prom” so the senior citizens could have a nice night out on the town.
It could be their second “senior prom,” or maybe their first if they did not attend the one when they were in high school, said Abigail, whose own high school senior prom is a few years away. She is a freshman.
Miriam Rivera, 65, is one who did not attend her class’s senior prom at South Hunterdon Regional High School. Sitting at one of the tables, she said she learned of Friday night’s prom through the Lawrence Senior Center.
”This is a nice way of recapturing something in my youth that I didn’t have,” Ms. Rivera said. “There is good food and good company. It’s a chance to get dressed up. It gives the kids as much pleasure as it gives the older people. It’s kind of a unique experience.”
Blanche Bosley Harmon, however, did attend her senior prom at Princeton High School in 1942. She was born and raised in Lawrence — on Lewisville Road — and attended high school in Princeton because Lawrence High School did not exist.
”I enjoy young people. It’s something to do,” the 89-year-old Ms. Harmon said as she watched young and old on the dance floor. She wore a pink dress and jacket Friday night.
”It brings back memories. The fellow I went with, I had just started liking him, but I didn’t think he would go with me. He asked me to go the senior prom. His name was Edward Harmon,” she said of the young man she would later marry.
Ms. Harmon recalled her senior prom was held in the gym at Princeton High School. None of the girls wore gowns. They wore dressy dresses, she said.
Veronica Pickering recalled her senior prom at Pemberton High School, also in 1942. She attended the prom, which was also held in the high school gym, with a family friend who was a student at the former Bordentown Military Institute.
Ms. Pickering recalls few details of the senior prom, but she remembered the dress she wore. Her mother made it. It was white with a lace overlay and square neckline.
”We danced. I loved to dance. We went to the dance and then we came home,” Ms. Pickering said, adding that there was no post-prom trip to the beach.
Meanwhile, Interact Club adviser Ghazala Quddus said Friday night’s senior “senior prom” was a dream come true — for both herself and the students. She said the students wanted to hold a senior prom for the senior citizens, and she did too.
”It was nice to see the students interact with (the senior citizens). I want young and old to see they can interact,” Ms. Quddus said.

