European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 31, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Cover Story Page 4 la Ken Heath High s Kristen Denny sitting Leslie Medford and Johannes Sparshott make posters promoting the night continued from the cover a prom overseas is a strange phenomenon. European schools have no equivalent to the extravagant dinner dances conducted in the states and for the most part proms held at department of defense dependents schools across Europe Are considerably less grandiose. But students anti teachers at Lakin Heath have worked for five months to duplicate the pomp and pageantry of stateside proms with certain intentional exceptions. There will be no Drunken Baw Diness at the Laken Heath prom a no fights no soiled tuxedos or torn dresses. Afterwards Tipsy adolescents will not pile into parents cars borrowed on promises of Temperance to caravan to someone a Home for the infamous after prom Bash. This prom is As carefully orchestrated an affair As a White House state dinner. It also is an Experiment in salesmanship the Challenge being to convince students that wholesome fun beats a chemically induced Buzz. The prom planning committee headed by teachers Barbara Hall and Becky Reichenberg have gone to great lengths to gain Access to the elite Center parcs a conservative British answer to club med. Normally too expensive for most americans the location of Lakenheath a prom is More a drawing card than the actual event. A the trick is to make our after prom More exciting than the other option Quot says Lakenheath principal or. Joan Lla Loran. A we be done that i think. I nestled on 100 tidy acres in the Elveden bores 20 Miles trom i Uke Heath a Center pares is billed As a family resort area. It is in fact a getaway for affluent brits who prefer not to spend their vacations with commoners a the usual beaches and amusement Parks. The prom is being held in the pares showpiece a trans Parent dome Plaza housing social shops Cates pubs a ballroom and that is filled in a promotional a sunday May 31 1902 senior Betsy Brown puts on the finishing touches while awaiting her Date for the big night. Guide As a Quot subtropical swimming on this night the ballroom and Quot swimming paradises Are reserved for Lakin Heath. The plan according to organizer Hall is to hold a traditional dinner and dance in the ballroom until Midnight follow it with a couple of hours of swimming and end with a stand up comic sometime after 3 . The underlying design she admits is to leave students with a desire for nothing More than sleep when the night is Over. A a we re not misleading the kids Quot Hull says. Quot they know what we re trying to do and they really done to care. They just want to have a Good time and judging from the participation they think this is going to be just adolescents Are known however for thwarting adults anti party schemes. So Lakenheath officials added some mass transit insurance. Students have been instructed that parking is scant and Only available a mile from the dome. Students have not been forbidden to drive but those who do must walk a path through the Woods to and from the dome no easy task for a Young woman in heels. Instead the school has rented three tour buses to carry the entire entourage from the High school to the parcs and Back again. Quot we tried to discourage students from taking their own cars a Hall says. A mainly because it would be difficult for them to get there. And unlike the states nol Many kids drive in England be cause they re inexperienced and driving on lie left Side of the Road is too but when pressed Hail concedes that busing Gies officials better control Over student s movements. If there s any trouble it will occur on the parcs grounds under the watchful be Small army no Monique idlebird gives Makesha Wright a mud mask facial the Day before the p rum
