Friday marked the end of Hyseinth Bacchus’ reign.
The former prom queen of the Cora B. Wood Senior Center in Brentwood sat at a table listening to music bedecked in the pink-jewel studded crown she had been awarded the previous year. Bacchus was gracious about turning over her crown.
‘‘I’m not dreading it,” said the New Carrollton resident. ‘‘I’m here to crown the new queen.”
Bacchus grew up in Guyana and never had a high school prom, but her school had a final party that she remembers well.
‘‘In those days everything was very stylish,” Bacchus said. ‘‘There were no dates. We all went to the party together but you know when you are that age, you always have someone to look at and look for like a boy or a boyfriend when you are at school.”
Bacchus was one of about 30 seniors who took a step back in time during the center’s third annual prom formal dance Friday. Seniors over the age of 60 gathered for a day of dancing, music and food.
To kick off the event, laughter yoga instructor Angela Mason led a session in laughter yoga where the group was encouraged to laugh out loud for no reason at all and create a lively atmosphere.
Blues Alley Youth Combo members played a combination of jazz and blues. Eventually, a few brave dancers were coaxed out of their seats by center employees and soon several couples were moving back and forth across the hall to the upbeat blues rhythm.
Anna Harris of Hyattsville often comes to events at the senior center and this time brought friend and neighbor Daisy Banks, also of Hyattsville.
‘‘I am very excited about today,” Harris said. ‘‘I come to the center often. The exercise is good and there are activities here.”
Harris remembers having her own high school prom in the school cafeteria, nothing like the lavish events schools host today. Her prom also lacked the after-parties as she recalled going home immediately after the dance. Banks’s prom was her first date ever.
‘‘I’m very excited about this prom,” Banks said. ‘‘I am coming more often. I just like the socializing.”
Hyattsville resident Katherine Handy-Duffy went to Catholic school and never had a prom when she was young. Mary Chandler of Hyattsville had also never been to a prom before, but had seen her daughters off to prom and helped them get ready.
Avonne Barnwell of Bladensburg grew up in Guyana like Bacchus and had her first prom last week. Barnwell smiled in her blue and black pinstriped dress at the scene around her.
‘‘It’s such a wonderful occasion,” Barnwell said. ‘‘You feel so much life. I love the music and I love the setting.”
Facility Director Regina Jackson helped organize the event and said she felt the prom was different from the ones the center usually hosts.
‘‘It’s something that takes them back down memory lane to their prom years and some of them have shared some experiences from prom when in high school,” Jackson said. ‘‘It’s interesting with the socialization and the live entertainment. We don’t have that too often. All of that makes for a really fun event.”
Since no prom would be complete without a royal court, King Gillis of Riverdale and Naomi Hart of Washington, D.C., were crowned prom king and queen.
E-mail Kristi Tousignant at ktousignant@gazette.net.
