Onnika Moore

Based on the 2010 Disney classic “Tangled,” this year’s theme for the Gretna East and Gretna High combined junior/senior prom, which will be on Apr. 6 from 6:30 – 10 p.m., at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum (SAC), located in Ashland, Neb., will be “At Last, We See The Lights.”
It will be the first and only combined prom with GHS. Both schools’ committees and librarians work together to decorate the venue.
“Since we only have juniors, the Prom will be combined with GHS’s juniors and seniors,” junior member Nathan Medcalf said.
The Prom committee is made up of sponsors, Gretna East librarian Jami Adelman and Gretna High librarian Kari Bulgrin, and eight GEHS students and eight GHS students.
“Mrs. [Kari] Bulgrin is a pro at planning Prom,” Adelman said. “This is my first year being a Prom sponsor. The fact that I get to work so closely with her for my first year makes the task seem more manageable. I look forward to learning the ropes to do a solid job next year.”
Projects and plans are underway, but the group has decided to buy purple wisteria, lavender-like flowers, covered arches and paint a mural like Rapunzel does in the movie.
“We plan to make it look like an enchanted garden with touches like purple and lanterns,” Adelman said.
Tickets will be sold on Go Fan starting on Mar. 12, but if a student brings someone from a different school, they will also have to have a visitor form filled out. Pricing for tickets will be announced in March. Juniors and seniors from both schools will be allowed to attend, but underclassmen must be invited by an upperclassman to attend. Similar to homecoming, students will be subject to random breathalizers before entering prom and post-Prom.
“I think it is important because even though most people don’t drink, it scares those who will and keeps them from drinking there,” prom chaperone and English teacher Layne Ostdiek said. “Even then, we don’t breathalyze everyone, and it won’t take that long.
While the Prom planning committee continues its work, the Booster clubs are busy planning Post-Prom, which will be held from 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. after the Prom at Gretna High.
“The purpose of Post-Prom is to make sure that everyone has a safe and fun night,” volunteer and English teacher Michaela Weber said. “We also are one of the last few schools that go as hard, decoration-wise, so we are trying to preserve this cool tradition for as long as possible.”
The East and Gretna High booster clubs are working together to fund and put on Post-Prom at Gretna High.
“We are almost halfway done and still working on decorations and fundraising events,” booster club member and East parent Rhonda Robinson said. “To fundraise, we are planning foodnights, valentine grams and carwashes, to name a few.”
To help offset the costs, the booster club will hold a craft fair to fundraise on Mar. 2 at East. However, Post-Prom will be at Gretna High.
“I think it’s amazing that GHS and GEHS are having their first and only combined Prom and Post-Prom,” committee member and junior Elena Bunker said. “It’s going to be an amazing experience and a chance for both schools to remember the friendships and close bonds we’ve made in past years.”
Junior Nathan Medcalf, who is also on the planning committee, agrees with Bunker and is looking forward to the grand event.
“Prom normally is a fancy thing, especially in Gretna,” Medcalf said. “Gretna and Gretna East having a combined Prom will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I’m excited to see the finished product of how we’ve all come together.”