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Senior prom at Crossroads in Delta was the first for many residents

Cal Turner and Evelyn Turner where crowned King and Queen of the senior prom at Crossroads Senior Living in Delta, Colorado.
Lisa Young
/
KVNF
Cal Turner and Evelyn Turner where crowned King and Queen of the senior prom at Crossroads Senior Living in Delta, Colorado.

Crossroads Senior Living in Delta recently held a senior prom for its seniors.

Amber Lorimore, Director of Activities, says this is the first of what will be an annual event.

"We have decked out our dining room, and all of our residents are just dressed to the nines, staff too," she said.

Lorimore said there had been a tradition of going to the Delta High School to do their senior prom with Region 10, a coalition that supports seniors in the area, "But covid, and all of its multi-facetness has decided, you know, it's still a little hard to get together. So with Region 10 canceling, you know, due to lack of volunteers, and sponsors, and time, we decided we're gonna do our own."

The activities director was surprised to find out that a number of the residents never attended a senior prom, including reporter Lisa Young's own mother Loretta Young.

"Well, I grew up in Hereford, Texas and they didn't have senior proms," said Loretta. "We had a senior night, but we didn't have a dance 'cos they didn't believe in dancing, so we had our family, our moms and dads gave us a senior prom, and that's when we had our dance."

Naomi, another resident at Crossroads, also shared that she never attended a senior prom.

"We were poor, and my mom wouldn't let me dance," said Naomi who did made it to the dance floor at the Crossroads prom with the help of one of the staff members.

Even though Naomi and Loretta missed out on a senior prom in high school, that experience didn't stop them from singing the old Elvis Presley favorite "Hound Dog" at today's proceedings.

"And you ain't no friend of mine," sang the ladies.

"And they're not as pretty as you are," added Naomi.

The day included some refreshments and decorations, and everyone dressing up for the special occasion.

The one day event was held in the afternoon with the curtains pulled so it felt a little bit more like it was nighttime.

Lorimore, to the thrill of the crowd, announced husband and wife Cal and Evelyn Turner as the king and queen of the prom.

It seemed like Evelyn was pretty thrilled about it.

"I'm the queen, hail the Lord!" she said.

Copyright 2023 KVNF - Mountain Grown Community Radio. To see more, visit KVNF - Mountain Grown Community Radio.


This story was shared with Aspen Public Radio via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico including Aspen Public Radio.

Lisa Young is a multimedia journalist living on the Western Slope of Colorado. She currently works as a freelance reporter for KVNF "Mountain Grown Community Radio" in Paonia, Colorado.