Dancing room only: Albany Senior Prom turns back time
Recreation and Parks event draws sellout senior crowd
By Carlton Fletcher
ALBANY — Louise Primrose noted that there was only one thing wrong with the Albany Recreation and Parks Department’s annual Senior Prom.
“This is about the only event they have here for senior citizens,” Primrose said as she arrived for the 16th Senior Prom Friday. “Most of us go to church, but we’re looking for other opportunities to get dressed up and go out. Our lives are not over yet.”
Or, as first-time prom-goer Fidila Griffin of Sylvester put it, “I came here to dance.”
And dance Griffin did, joining a large group that hit the dance floor right away at the start of the 16th Senior Prom, which was moved once already when it outgrew the facility at Robert Cross Park and, according to Recreation and Parks Supervisor Tee Taylor, will move again — though not out of the center — next year to accommodate the demand for tickets.
“We sold out, all 200 tickets, for this year’s prom (at the Albany Civic Center ballroom), and there were still people calling for tickets,” Taylor said. “We’re probably going to move it onto the main floor of the Civic Center next year.
“This is such a fun event every year, and it’s a great opportunity for people over 50 to get out and have a great time, meet new people.”
Solomon Sanders had one of the evening’s most enviable jobs: escorting the finely dressed ladies to their seats and later dancing with those who came without partners.
“We usually have some of the Marines at the base volunteer to escort the ladies and dance, but that group is getting younger and it’s harder to find volunteers,” Sanders said. “I’m a member of (American Legion) Post 512, so I was glad to volunteer this year. I’m looking forward to tonight.”
Carolyn White Robinson’s mother, Betty White, had dialysis scheduled Saturday in Fort Gaines and was going to have to miss the prom she usually attended there. But Robinson discovered the Albany Prom and was able to get tickets before they sold out.
Willie B. Williams, resplendent in his best tux, said he was ready to listen to music from the Golden Age of Motown and earlier being spun by DJ Dollar Bill.
“This is my first prom; I’m excited,” Williams said.
And as the songs of Little Richard, Ray Charles, the Temptations and Marvin Gaye set toes to tapping and had line dancers shaking vintage body parts, Williams soon discovered he was not alone.
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