‘I still feel young': SF.'s senior prom returns after a pandemic-era pause
Cliff Young dances with Anette Lee during Senior Prom at the County Fair Building at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Wednesday. The event, a city tradition since 1985, returned for the first time since its pandemic-era shutdown. (Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle)
Pat Wiley had no date for the prom Wednesday in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, but she came anyway, wearing a fake fur cape. She would have worn her prom dress from Lincoln High, class of 1963, if only it still fit.
She joined about 300 other people age 55 and older to dance the afternoon away as the Senior Prom, a city tradition since 1985, returned after a six-year hiatus that started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"You can stay in your pajamas all day if you want and watch the Hallmark Channel," said Wiley, 80. "But this is a chance to see old friends and hear live music. I still feel young, even if I'm old."
All proms have organizing committees - this one was led by Katherine Villasin, coordinator for Citywide Senior Programs at the Recreation and Park Department, which hosted the event at the County Fair Building.
"I literally woke up in the early morning one day and said to myself the Senior Prom needs to happen again," said Villasin, resplendent in a pink tiered dress. "The community needs it."
Villasin brought experience to the task - she was on the 1997 prom committee at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, which chose "Night on the Nile" as the theme.
She also came up with the theme for Wednesday's prom - "Young@Heart" - which was held in the afternoon so attendees could get home for naptime.
When the doors opened at 1 p.m., several hundred promgoers were waiting outside in their gowns and tuxedos. There were no late arrivals, and everyone got in regardless of what they were wearing.
Dozens of seniors hit the dance floor during Senior Prom at the County Fair Building at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Wednesday. (Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle)
They entered a room decorated in handmade paper and tissue flowers by the bandstand, where Island Groove, the house band from the Tonga Room at the Fairmont hotel, was ready to go. Also ready was a picture booth framed by a balloon archway, where attendees could pose as prom king or queen and wear an official sash.
"I am the prom queen. I have a picture to prove it," said Marilyn Straka, 79, who added she was not the queen or even on the royal court at the last prom she attended, at Central High School in St. Paul, Minn., in 1964.
She invited her date, Mike Wade, who at 59 was not much past the age cutoff. He had his own white dinner jacket, black tuxedo pants, ruffled shirt and cummerbund. Straka presented him with a purple lei, while he brought his own boutonniere plus a necklace for her.
Tina Long dances at the Senior Prom at the County Fair Building at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Wednesday. (Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle)
"We like to have fun," said Wade, "so here we are."
When the band kicked into "All Night Long" by the Commodores, they hit the floor, where Wade was not the only guest in a white dinner jacket. Darryl Fown, 79, also wore one, and his date, Margaret Fown, had a flower in her hair. They've been married for 55 years and took ballroom dancing lessons at City College 20 years ago.
He hadn't lost a step and was in demand, plucked out of his seat by a different partner for every song, including "Dancing in the Moonlight" and "My Girl."
Darryl Fown dances with his wife, Margaret, at the Senior Prom on Wednesday at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park. The couple, married for 55 years, were among hundreds of attendees celebrating the return of the city tradition after a six-year hiatus. (Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle)
"You've got to keep moving," he explained between dances. "If you keep moving, you know you're alive."
At the break, the Golden Ukes & Silver Strand Band performed in luau gear. Twenty-eight ukuleles and four dancers put on a show to "Blue Moon" and "YMCA," with the promgoers raising their arms in the classic choreography spelling out the letters.
In all, about 50 senior programs from various clubhouses, classes and rec centers were represented at the prom, which went past the scheduled 3 p.m. closing time.
"They're breaking their curfew," said Villasin, who had donned a Prom Queen sash and was out there dancing with the seniors.
Pat Wiley and Katherine Villasin pose for a photo during Senior Prom at the County Fair Building at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Wednesday. (Brontë Wittpenn/S.F. Chronicle)
A conga circle formed with the Fowns leading the way, even as staffers were breaking down the refreshment table and folding up chairs.
The dance floor was in use right up through the closing numbers, "September," and "Celebration," with people swaying their arms along with the singers.
Wiley, who came alone, found plenty of partners.
"This is fabulous," she said. "Some of these guys look like they are 90, and they dance like mad."
