Gettin' ready for the prom
Photo by JOSH McDONALD Nurses, staff and residents at Mountain Valley of Cascadia hold up various dress clothes that were donated by the Secondhand Store in Smelterville, to the facility to be worn during their upcoming prom. Pictured from left is Brianna Carlin, Catalina Gilseth, Debbie Scott, Mary Hill, Darcus Dowell, Sydney Long and Misty McEnany. Sitting is Bill Strathie and Tom Brotemarkle.
KELLOGG — It’s going to be a night of fun, dancing and dinner for residents at Mountain Valley of Cascadia next week.
But first, they’re going to need a little help.
Mountain Valley activities director Brianna Carlin first came up with the idea for hosting a prom-style event at the Kellogg facility roughly six months ago after a survey of her residents yielded some surprising results.
“I took a poll about six months ago and roughly 65% of our residents never got to attend their high school prom,” Carlin said. “For a lot of people, the prom is one of those milestones that people really want to experience.”
After collecting the results, and then going around and talking to nearly all of the residents individually, Carlin decided that they would host a prom for the residents at Mountain Valley.
“Not one person told me no,” Carlin said. “They were all so excited at the idea and for a lot of reasons. Not only does it hit that milestone for them, but it gets them up, out of bed and moving to do something fun. We even have a prom planning committee of residents who are walking me step by step on what they want for the event.”
After deliberating, they decided to theme the event a mix of blast from the past (’50s and ’60s) and Valentines Day, live music will be provided by Phil and John Hodges.
Weather permitting, Carlin also plans to have a classic Corvette at the prom for residents to take photos with.
But they are still looking for outfits for the residents to wear and are hoping the community will be able to help them out.
Nothing overly fancy, but semi-formal attire that the residents can easily get into that fits the idea of a prom-style dance.
Carlin mentioned she basically needs men’s and women’s items (dresses, shirts, pants, jackets, ties/bow ties, etc.) in sizes medium all the way through 3XL.
“Events like these really boost the quality of life for people who are living here,” Carlin said. “It’s all about what can make them the happiest. We’ve encouraged the staff to find a resident and ask them to prom if they don’t already have a date.”
(FYI Mountain Valley CEO Emily Kulin is still on the market.)
Anyone who would like to donate clothing to the prom can drop items off at the facility, located at 601 W. Cameron Ave. in Kellogg, or Carlin will happily come pick items up.
She can be reached at 909-809-0729 or by email at Bcarlin@cascadiahc.com.
Mountain Valley of Cascadia’s prom is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 13, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Carlin is also looking for anyone who would like to volunteer as a prom date or as a helper for the event.