Although many middle-aged parents in West Windsor and Plainsboro will be attending their first prom this week, there are several couples in the area who attended proms in high school and will be repeating the experience. Parents Prom, an inaugural event to raise money for the annual West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Post Prom party, will be held on Saturday, February 6, at the Nottingham Firehouse, from 8 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $75.
“While graduating from high school certainly ends a chapter for our kids, it is also the end of an era for us,” says Alice Donohue, one of the event organizers. “After years of sitting together on the bleachers or in the theater watching our children perform and grow, it is now time for us to get together and celebrate while raising money for a good cause.”
Donahue, a Plainsboro resident, thought of the idea for a parents’ prom while sitting at a post prom event meeting. “As I listened to the types of events we had done in the past and were planning to do again, it occurred to me that they were all labor intensive on the part of the parents, and many did not really bring in all that much money,” she says. “I wanted to come up with one big idea we could all concentrate on, and something that would also be fun for us and not all about the kids for a change.” The idea for the parents’ prom was hatched.
“I actually never went to my prom, and I realized that so many other parents had not been to their prom and that’s what made the idea even more appealing,” she says. “So many of our parents lived in other countries where proms were not part of the culture. Others, like me, were too cool to go to the prom. And, of course, there were those who didn’t go because they didn’t have a date, or their schools couldn’t afford a prom.”
Donohue majored in journalism and art at Rutgers University, and received her master’s in media studies at the New School in New York. An executive overseeing all marketing and communications function for 24 years at TIAA-CREF, a large retirement and investment company in New York, she took an early retirement option three years ago. “I have since been working on a number of projects, including a website for high school students scheduled to launch mid-year,” she says.
It will also be the first prom for her husband, Joe Donohue, who works for the U.S. Department of Treasury in Jersey City. Their three children are all in high school. Rachel, 14, is a freshman; Jake, 16, is a junior; and Zack, 18, is a senior.
Dave and Gail Campbell met in 1975 and went to three proms together. They were both raised in Hamilton and are Steinert High School graduates. They met when she was 15 and he was 17. “I heard about this baseball player for Post 31 named Dave who was interested in meeting me so I tagged along to Mercer County Park with my Uncle Bob to watch Dave play baseball. I really wanted to see what he looked like,” she says. “He saw me at his game and a few nights later (July 15, 1975) he showed up on my doorstep and we have been together ever since.”
“Back then the senior prom took place on the Friday after Thanksgiving,” she says. “There were no limos, no manicures, all day makeovers, or post prom. You just picked out a pretty dress, went to a house party before the event, and then carpooled to the prom.”
“I was on the prom committee so we did everything from pick the band, menu, decoration, and the theme,” says Gail Campbell. “I can appreciate all the work that the committee is going through to pull this event together.”
Dave, who graduated from Virginia Tech with an engineering degree, is a builder. Gail, who graduated from Trenton State College with a degree in accounting, is managing director for an investment management firm. They dated all through college and were married in 1983. Their children are Alex, a senior at South; and Chris, a sophomore.
“We were very familiar with the West Windsor area because Dave worked for a farmer in Hamilton during high school who knew many of the farmers who owned property here. He hunted on many of farms before they were developed. I remember that we used to drive through the community as developments started popping up and thinking how huge the houses were,” says Gail. “We decided to build our own home in West Windsor in 1997 because of the school system and proximity to my parents and work.”
Mickey and Cindy Schoenauer, born and raised in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, met at a high school basketball game in 1974. She was in eighth grade and he was a freshman. Their first date was to see “American Graffiti” at the Capital Theater in Pottsville.
They went to five proms at Nativity BVM High School. They remember that the highlight songs included “Stairway to Heaven,” “You’re My Best Friend,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Shooting Star”, “Feel Like Making Love,” and “Bad Company.” The couple was married in 1987 in Wilmington, Delaware and moved to West Windsor in 1997.
Mickey, who graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1983, served five years. After receiving his MBA from Drexel University, he started a career in pharmaceuticals, and currently works at Forest Laboratories. Cindy, who graduated from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia with a bachelor of science in pharmacy, worked 10 years as a pharmaceutical rep with Carter Wallace in Cranbury. She retired after the birth of their first baby. Their three children include Ciara, a senior at South; Brian, a freshman at South; and Kathryn, a sixth grader at Thomas Grover Middle School.
“The WW-P school system is a special place because of the diversity of the population and that’s what will make this Parent Prom so much fun”, said Ashima Saksena, co-chair of the post prom committee along with Carol Herts. “Proms were not part of our culture in India. For many of us born in other countries, attending this type of event really offers us an opportunity to bond with our children and American raised friends.”
— Lynn Miller
Parents Prom, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Post Prom, Nottingham Firehouse, 200 Mercer Street, Hamilton. Saturday, February 6, 8 p.m. Dinner, open bar, and prizes. Register. $75. E-mail thedonohuefamily@comcast.net for information. 609-716-5050. www.ww-p.org.
