West Chester hosts an ‘Old Fashioned Prom’

An “Old Fashioned Prom” was the event of the evening in West Chester on Saturday night, Feb. 12.

The event was sponsored by the West Chester Heritage Association. The organization is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the West Chester school building, which is about 100 years old. Dean Greiner, president of the association, said the organization is fundraising to make repairs to the building.

“We are doing fundraisers to get a matching grant from the Riverside Casino to help put on a new roof,” said Greiner. “This is the first time that we have done a prom here at the school. We hope that everyone has a good time and that we can make it an annual event.”

“We are here to help raise the roof and have a fun time at a prom,” said Rory and Amanda White. “We came to help raise money for the West Chester Association. We heard about it on Facebook.”

Jessica Faselt and Bruce Dornelles attended the prom together because they wanted to do something fun for Valentine’s Day. Jessica is an opera singer from Washington, and said that though she travels all over the world, it was fun to go dancing at her home in Southeast Iowa.

Dornelles is from Brazil, and said he never had the chance to go to a prom in his native country.

“We do not have such dances,” he said. “This is my opportunity to go to a prom with Jessica. We are having a fun night.”

Contact Michelle Hillestad at michelle.hillestad@southeastiowaunion.com