Prom

WESTMINSTER High School Class of '97 Parent Boosters is gearing up for its annual Prom Fair on March 23.The fair features once-worn prom dresses for sale at reasonable prices, along with prom products and services from area businesses.Girls with prom dresses they want to sell can take them to the high school from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.The drop-off will be in the school lobby, 1225 Washington Road. A $2 handling fee is charged per dress. The seller receives 75 percent of the selling price.

Fortunately, proms aren't populated by Southern-belle dresses and powder-blue tuxes anymore, but there are almost too many choices today. How do you decide? Macy's offers these suggestions -- both conservative and contemporary -- to help young women figure out what's hot for prom 2002. Take a look: Style -- Traditional ball gowns and romantic floor-length dresses are still the rage, but a new offering this season suits the urban sophisticate: feminine, fitted tuxedos in dramatic black, cream or silver.

KINDERHOOK, Ill. -- Traditions run deep in a small town, and Saturday's high school prom was bound to happen no matter what the Mississippi River had done.It was last summer when the Mississippi, fueled by weeks of heavy rain, spilled through the countryside and flooded the Illinois towns of Kinderhook, Hull and New Canton, across the river from Hannibal, Mo.Nearly a third of the students in the three towns' single school district, nine miles from the river, were forced from their homes.The West Pine Community High School building was spared the sewage-filled green waters that left the elementary school, along with the corn and soybean crops, neck-deep in muck.

"Don't Let Alcohol and Drugs Drive You Out of Control."That was the message on the sign placed on the back of a smashed and mangled car that sat as a gruesome prop outside Baltimore County's eighth annual Conference on Drinking, Drugs and Driving yesterday.More than 400 high school students representing 26 schools were present at Martin's West for the meeting that kicked off Project Prom Night, the county's annual campaign to educate prom-goers on the dangers of driving while drunk or after using drugs.

IN THE SPRING OF 1993, Ellen Barth, a student at Atholton High School, was preparing to attend her junior prom when she was struck by a thought: Students spend a great deal of money on this one-day event. Ellen addressed the incongruity. At 16, she founded Project PROMise, a temporary store that sells nearly new formal dresses during prom and homecoming seasons at a fraction of the original price. The dresses are donated or consigned to the shop and proceeds are given to the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center and the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County.

Spring signals the homestretch for high school seniors, with thoughts of graduation, summer jobs and college coming into focus.But perhaps the most important thought on a senior's mind is the prom.If you are the parent of a senior, what comes to mind at prom time is money.The Crofton Civic Association and Mary's Consignment Shop haved teamed up to help parents and seniors alike with a Teen Fashion Show at Crofton Woods Elementary School at 7:30 p.m. on March 22.Teens representing Arundel, Old Mill, St. Mary's and Spalding high schools will model a variety of formal wear from Mary's.

CONGRATULATIONS to Susan Sperduto and Owen Gaither on being crowned queen and king of the Glen Burnie High School senior prom last weekend. Both students are exceptional young adults who excel in the sporting arena as well as the classroom. Sperduto has lettered in track and volleyball while Gaither was a standout on the Gopher's basketball team. Last days for seniors The senior prom was only one of a flurry of activities facing seniors at Glen Burnie High. With graduation weeks away, parents are reminded of a few landmark dates for their children.

Imagine a high-school prom where anyone can dance with the captain of the football team or the head cheerleader (or both), where you can drink alcoholic beverages (for a price), where there aren't any chaperones and you can make up for whatever went wrong at your own prom. According to Ken Davenport, creator and director of The Awesome 80s Prom -- which begins performances at the Hippodrome's M&T Bank Pavilion tomorrow -- that's part of the thinking behind this interactive show, in its second year in New York.

Gay and lesbian high school students in Howard County will be singing and dancing "Under the Rainbow" next month in Columbia at the first same-sex prom held in the county.The alternative prom is being sponsored by the Howard chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), a national nonprofit organization."It's really positive for the kids to know that there's a place that they can go to and have fun like they would at [their high school] prom," said Dorina Stanislaw, 18, a Centennial High School senior from Ellicott City who plans to attend the event with her girlfriend, Jennifer Roorda, 20, a 1997 Centennial graduate.

After the prom, high school senior Cody Wolfe ditched his tuxedo and slipped into a hulking, flesh-toned sumo suit. He then raced onto a mat to body slam two classmates who were also wearing puffy fat suits. What better way to spend prom night? After the last slow dance, Wolfe joined about 240 C. Milton Wright High School students who left the ballroom on a recent Saturday night and headed to another party where the DJ played fast-paced, upbeat songs, the cooler was packed with nonalcoholic drinks and the hot tub was running - all under the watchful eyes of 50 parents.