East Hampton Juniors Strut Their Stuff

Teenage girls ran in and out of Room 23 at East Hampton High School on Thursday night, laughing and helping each other into prom dresses. 

“I’ve been working out for two weeks, I got it zipped!” one girl exclaimed to her friends.

But this wasn’t the big night. The juniors were preparing for the East Hampton High School Junior Prom Fashion Show.

First held in 2007, the event raises money for the students’ senior class trip to Washington, D.C. Local businesses donate dresses, flowers and tuxedos, among other items, to the participants, as well as gift certificates that are raffled off to audience members who buy tickets for $1 each.

About 150 people attended the show, helping to raise  $755. Some of this year’s donated prizes included a limousine ride to the prom, restaurant and salon gift certificates and jewelry.

Two doors down from the girls, the boys were also getting ready for the show. When asked why he wanted to be part of this occasion, Jacob Beebe responded, “because it’s a ritual, all the cool juniors do it.” 

Boys walked around helping each other to get ready.

“I really wanted to rock out that wardrobe!” Ryan Massie said of a sparkling jacket. Some of the girls occasionally wandered in to help their partners with their ensembles. 

The students were not the only ones running around excitedly. Junior class advisors Amy Rollins and Sherry Banack, teachers who volunteered to plan and organize the event, ran from room to room, making sure the kids and the stage were ready. 

Both expressed their eagerness to help. 

“I think it’s fun to do this stuff with the kids,” Rollins said.

Standing at the entrance to the auditorium was local business owner Sue Puzzo, who donated to the show to help support the school. As a local resident and the mother of a former East Hampton High School student, Puzzo believes it is important to support the town. 

“The local businesses should support the school and each other,” said Puzzo, owner of Especially For You, a flower shop on Route 66. This is the second consecutive year that Puzzo has donated corsages for the girls. 

Once the audience was seated, the show was ready to begin. Girls walked onto the stage from the right, boys from the left. The pairs met in the middle under an arbor,  the boys handing the girls a rose before the couples walked to the front of the stage. Parents and friends clapped and cheered and the smiling couples walked offstage and into the audience.

Bonnie Sweet-Reilly and Annie Wales, of the Red Door Boutique, donated dresses for the event and were on hand to help the girls into them.

High school girls came to Sweet-Reilly and Wales looking for prom dresses last year, prompting the two women to get involved in the event for the first time in 2010.

“We saw there was a need locally for prom dresses,” Sweet-Reilly said.

Caitlin Emmett decided to take part in the fashion show because she “thought it would be fun, it’s a chance to get publicity for our class.”

While most students seemed to share Emmett’s feelings, Victoria Johnson admitted she decided to do the fashion show to help get over her stage fright. Johnson, who recently joined the drama club, said, “I gotta do it.”