Many a magical night in the Garden State.
Not only did I attend my senior prom at Sacred Heart High School in Vineland in 1977, I also worked on the prom committee.
Sorting through some old papers, I came across the prom committee members for that year: chairman Piera Infranco -- use of the "person" form of that title still lay in the future; vice chairmen Colleen Corcoran and me; decorations managers Tom Holden and Pete Van Noord; entertainment managers Sheila Pino and Pier Masciarella and correspondence manager Carleen DiPaola.
Those out there who served on prom committees know it is not an easy task to pull off such an event; it's a lot of work! We were charged with finding a place to hold it, hiring entertainment, working out meals, coming up with decorations and selling tickets. For me, of all the time that was spent readying for the prom, one memory stands out from the rest.
One of my all-time favorite photo finds; here's how you remember everyone else from your prom save one. Our prom theme was "Harbor Lights" (a direct grab from the Boz Skaggs song). So, it was decided by the committee members that the prom would have a nautical theme. Construction was begun on name boards for tables, a lighthouse and the centerpiece, a bridge for promgoers to cross on entry.
MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey
The thing is, we forgot that girls wear heels when they attend proms and we made the bridge way too steep.
Now, Tom, Pete and I can't accept full blame for this; the others saw it in its progressive stages of construction and voiced no concerns. But come prom night, we worried if the young ladies -- and some of the guys; remember, we wore those platform shoes in those days -- would make it from one side of the bridge to the other without a mishap.
Thankfully, while some teetering and tottering took place, there were no falls and Harbor Lights went off without a hitch.
Here's a gallery of proms and promgoers from days gone by in New Jersey. Be sure you have captions enabled for all the information about each photo.
Like to see more? Here are links to previous prom galleries
More vintage photos of proms in N.J.
And even more vintage photos of proms in N.J.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.