-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Saturday evening, while sitting at school taking photos of the juniors and seniors in their finest attire, I couldn’t help but think about days gone by and prom, 1970s-style.

Our junior year, my classmates and I spent weeknights leading up to the big event, decorating the old gymnasium in varying hues of pastel. The ceiling was coated with strips of crepe paper, creating a whimsical carousel-like roof. I’m not sure how long it took us to cut streamers, maybe we started before the decorating marathon.

There was a carousel, built by the boys, and a fountain spilling water over rocks, into a kidd...