No dancing

Prom is a marquee event.

The chance to go shopping for a dress to find “the one,” then don perfect makeup and an intricate updo to complete the look is a little girl’s dream.

For the guys, prom can be a chance to suit up for the first time.

A ton of planning goes into making everything perfect for one spring Saturday evening. No amount of preparation can help fathom the impact the worst pandemic in more than a century can have on such an event.

Tonight would have been that special night for Jay County and Fort Recovery high school students, but the ongoing coronavirus has stripped them of the chance, at least for now.

“I wasn’t too upset about it at first, but then it all started to sink in and it hit me,” said Emma James, a JCHS senior. “I realized that my senior year really is over and those memories that I’m supposed to be making I won’t have the chance to anymore.”

James chose her dress long before COVID-19 started to grip the nation in early March. Her dark red, two-piece dress was far from the sparkly and flashy one she donned as a junior, and once she saw it she didn’t bother looking elsewhere.

“This year I wanted to go simplistic and as soon as I saw that dress it was what I wanted,” she said.

Some students, like JCHS senior Trevor Shaneyfelt, expected the annual promenade to be canceled because of how quickly other events, both in the county and statewide, were being impacted.

Mikale Knight said she was upset at first, but her thoughts changed quickly.

“At first I felt kind of selfish to mourn the prom because it seemed like a big thing to me when it was small to everything else that was going on,” she said. “I was not prepared for it. I was expecting to have it and to have the time with my friends.”

Knight’s bouffant dress has a floral pattern on top. The bottom has flowing tulle with polka dots.

“I loved the uniqueness of it and how I didn’t think a lot of people would choose it as their first choice,” said Knight, who like many girls purchased her dress long before it was announced April 2 that Indiana schools would be closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 year thus forcing prom to be canceled. “Thought about getting a dress no one else would get.”

Gyms are packed to the rafters wishing to get a glance at all the elegance. Boys and girls dressed to the nines taking pictures for and with both friends and family is one of the biggest draws to prom each year. Jay County senior Mackynzie Fairchild was looking forward to the photographs and the memories they would have created.

“But what I was looking forward to most about prom was dancing my life away with my friends and classmates,” she said. “You can dance and have fun with whoever you want. It’s a night full of building relationships and creating new ones.

“I’m going to miss the carefree, positive and hyped attitude throughout it when there’s not judgement or drama because everyone is dressed to their best and people can be themselves for the night.”

Prom can be fun for the guys, too. Shaneyfelt, who had purchased a gray suit to match the dress of his date, Allison Jobe, was counting on letting his long, curly red hair flow down the shoulders of his suit while living up the night with his friends.

Plans have already been put in place for an alternate graduation at Jay County, and Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley remains adamant prom — in some shape or form — will still happen albeit not tonight.

Fairchild, James, Shaneyfelt and Knight are all hopeful the administration and the senior class officers will work together to ensure a safe environment for all.

But for many, their night won’t go as planned. James said she’d probably just have a movie night with her twin sister, Hannah.

Knight said she sent an email to all of the senior girls asking for a video clip of them in their respective dresses. She plans to compile them into a single video.

And for some, their prom attire is featured in a special section in today’s issue of The Commercial Review.

“I really liked the idea,” James said. “Some people spend so much money on dresses for them to not be shown off so I thought it was a really good idea.

“It also gave us something to do. Just take day to get ready then do pictures. It actually gave us the opportunity to put on the dress instead of it just sitting in a closet until it can be worn. One of my favorite parts about prom last year was seeing all the different dresses so it’ll be nice to still get to see them.”