Dinner and dance moving to a new venue

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Frazee High School prom planning committee and new advisor Heather Perrine are making some big changes to the annual spring formal and are using creative fundraising efforts to make the most of this year’s event.

“We have big plans,” said senior Madison Olson.

Prom is being moved up a week and will be held Saturday, April 29, to avoid scheduling conflicts that have occurred in the past.

The change was made to accommodate the school’s successful robotics team. The robotics state competition is Saturday, May 6, and the committee did not want those team members to miss prom.

“We sided with them, because it’s a school event, and that’s why we switched,” senior Krysten Halverson said.

This year’s prom theme is the Roaring Twenties, but the theme for fundraising is far more modernized. Perrine found a popular and amusing fundraising idea on TikTok called Prom Potty and shared it with the committee.

“It’s light-hearted and a nice way to get the community involved,” Perrine said.

The traveling Prom Potty is a decorated toilet that travels from yard to yard around town. The fundraising comes from donations to either remove the potty from a yard ($25), send it to a friend ($30), or a $50 donation for insurance to keep the potty out of a lawn.

“This is a way to get the whole community involved; it’s something new and something different,” said senior Marcella George.

The committee added their own spin on promoting it via hashtag #IveBeenBombedByProm. 

“We added the hashtag to it so if you do get it in your yard, you can post it on your Facebook or Instagram to promote it,” said Olson.

Coming up with a suitable and clean hashtag took some humorous brainstorming given all the possibilities involving toilets.

Prom Potty is a supplement to the usual door-to-door fundraising committee members do with businesses in Frazee, Vergas, Perham and Detroit Lakes 

“We’re a pretty motivated group; I think we just want to get out there and get as many donations as we can,” said Olson.

All proceeds raised go to the planning committee for decorations, the dinner, the site of the dance and the post-prom gathering.

“We’ve put a lot of it toward post-prom but I think this year we’re shifting it and putting a lot more of it toward Grand March, the dinner, and our location.

The group has moved the dance venue from its usual home at the Event Center to Countryside Barn 16 miles east of Frazee. Countryside is a modernized rustic farmstead that specializes in hosting weddings and other gatherings.

“We’ve never done a barn before and that was something we really wanted to push as seniors,” said George. “This is our final prom; we want it to be different.”

Making a memorable evening and having it be a new experience for classmates was a priority of the group, according to senior Olivia Petron.

Countryside was very generous with a donation to host the prom, according to Perrine. Anderson Bus will be shuttling kids from the school to Countryside and back. The high school will be hosting the Grand March, prior to the dinner and dance at Countryside. Students are not allowed to drive themselves. The shuttles will return the students to the school for post-prom.

Post-prom planning specifics are still in the works but the vibe is a calm place to wind down.

“It’s a safe place to go for people to have a good time,” said Halverson.

“Prom is a long day and the one thing we want is to sit down and chill,” said Olson.

Superintendent Terry Karger kicked in another new idea for raising funds that the committee is hosting over two separate days. The FHS rummage sale is collecting donations of old Frazee T-shirts, sports equipment and other Hornet gear. Donations can be dropped off in the office at the elementary school and high school. The sales will be held Monday, Feb. 13, at the high school and Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the elementary from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

The sale dates coincide with parent-teacher conferences at each school. All proceeds go to future proms.

“It’s so nice because we have spring sports coming up for the little kids when they need this equipment it will just be there,” said George.

It’s also a way to kick start some spring cleaning around the house and recycle goods that are taking up space at home.

Other fundraising options being discussed are a bean bag tournament, along with setting up donation acceptance via the mobile payment service Venmo.

“We have very high expectations and we’re also willing to put in the work,” said Olson.

More details about prom will be released later in the year.