‘Prom-posals’ packed with creativity
Staff writer
Jacob Baldwin borrowed an old ring box from his mother, placed a plastic ring inside, and during the Marion Winter Formal Dance, he cleared the dance floor and asked the DJ to stop the music. Then he got down on one knee, presented the gift to his date, Bailey Robson, and asked her to be his date to prom.
“People call them ‘prom-posals,’” Baldwin said. “I kind of took that literally.”
Prom-posals are romantic, high-stakes public gestures replacing awkward phone calls to pop the big question.
Hillsboro High School junior Kennedy Klein baked a box of vanilla cupcakes with “Prom?” written in frosting and a note:
“Roses are red/ Cupcakes are the bomb/ Please be my date/ and come with me to prom?”
He said yes — and that’s the key to a successful prom-posal: a positive response. Klein became inspired to ask her date with cupcakes after seeing on social media that someone did a similar prom-posal with a box of donuts.
“I like cupcakes better,” Klein said.
Marion junior Sydnee Baldwin received a prom-posal at home. She heard the doorbell and opened the front door to find a box of Nikes outside.
The note inside read: “You’ve been running through my mind allll day. Prom?”
“He like ding-dong-ditched me.” Sydnee Baldwin said with a laugh. “I was really surprised.”
Marshelle Mermis also received a gift with an athletic theme. She was walking in the hallway between classes when a boy handed her a red baton used in relay races. On the baton was written: “You should ‘relay’ go to prom with me.”
“How they ask is where it gets creative,” said Marion High School Librarian Lori McLinden, whose daughter Lauren received a unique prom-posal last year as a senior.
Lauren’s boyfriend at the time, Morgan Wheeler, phoned her before school one morning and asked her to meet him at the athletic stadium.
“He had some lame story about having a flat tire,” McLinden said. “I couldn’t believe she fell for it.”
When Lauren arrived at the athletic stadium, Wheeler had stuck foam cups into the fence to spell out “Prom?” Unfortunately, the wind was blowing and the cups were flying away when Lauren arrived, McLinden said.
“The cups were all over,” McLinden said.
And after Wheeler and Lauren arrived at school, they were questioned about their activity at the athletic stadium because a neighbor thought they might have been vandalizing the facility, McLinden said.
Some prom-posals are ingenious for their simplicity, such as Sean Buchanan scraping “Prom?” into the side of his muddy truck last year and Reann Hamm said yes, McLinden said.
Also last year, Nick Meyer had a rose delivered to Amanda Stuchlik every class period on Valentine’s Day. Each rose came with a word that eventually spelled out: “Will you go to prom with me?” Meyer delivered the final rose with the word “me” during seventh period, McLinden said.
At Centre High School, junior Adam Makovec presented a box of shotgun shells with “Prom?” written across the top row of red casings. Kristin Vinduska accepted.
At Hillsboro High School, Alex Ratzlaff said a classmate was pulled over by a police officer and handed what she thought was a ticket but was really a prom-posal from a boy at school.
Shannon Heiser said another boy wrote “Prom?” on hay bales on his family farm, and another shaved “Prom?” into the hair of cattle.
On the farm or in the school library, a creative, romantic gesture can make someone’s day.
Marion senior Braden Fahey turned his regular can of Fanta orange soda into a prom-posal. He replaced the “F” with a “W” and added a few words so the can read: “Wanta go to prom with me?”
“I gave it to her, she smiled, and said ‘yes,’” Fahey said.