St. Patrick’s Day in Long Beach didn’t only recognize its Irish roots, it also brought the opportunity for those in their “golden years” to gather for a “senior prom” at the City’s Senior Center.
“We have so many senior citizens in our community, and we all know them,” said Jared Smith, a Long Beach High School (LBHS) senior who also serves as Student Body President. Smith was among the LBHS students who partnered with the City of Long Beach, the Long Beach Senior Center and other community members and organizations to host the event.
“We just wanted to do something really fun, invite some of our Student Council members out and play some games with them,” said Smith.
This wasn’t a typical senior prom: attendees ditched the sequined dresses and high heels for more sensible attire - at least in some cases.
“Some people came in their green, then some people went all out,” Smith said. “My partner for bingo [was] Mary Anne. She [had] green hair, green eyebrows. She came decked all out and was ready to play!”
James Ware reigned as King and Linda Kerr as Queen of the St. Patrick’s Day Senior Prom event.
Instead of dancing, there was cornhole, ladder ball and blue tennis on the nearby courts in the Long Beach Senior Center.
“Our Student Council, every year we try to do a big philanthropy project, and this [the senior prom] is our big project for this year,” Smith said. “We all got together after Christmas, sat down to discuss it and really wanted to help out.”
Smith said he hopes history will repeat itself.
“This is the first time that we know of that we have done this, and we’re really hoping to make it an annual tradition at our school,” Smith said.
