Little eyes grew wide, as Fairfield High School celebrated prom

FAIRFIELD — Little girls’ eyes filled with excitement as they saw the princesses of their imaginations come to life in the form of the teenagers they knew and loved from their community. Those teenagers displayed wide grins as they finally took their time in the limelight as those princesses at Fairfield High School Grand March, Saturday night.

Throughout Fairfield, high school students dressed to the nines, enjoyed dinner, and took photos before arriving at the high school to take their turn as royalty.

Filling the bleachers, family, friends, and neighbors gathered in the high school gymnasium as they watched their favorite students strut down a simply lit catwalk.

The high school students showed off their confidence in their formal attire as they struck a pose, showed off dance moves, and performed secret handshakes at the climax of the runway.

One very small group of onlookers held exceptionally large smiles as they watched the sparkling dresses glide across the gym floor: little girls with big dreams.

Addy Hill’s face broke into a wide grin as seniors Maggie and Macy Rayburn returned to the gym following Grand March.

Maggie’s delicate light blue dress with sparkling floral details gently flowed along with her as she approached 4-year-old Addy.

Macy, Maggie’s twin, donned a form-fitting pink dress covered in sequins as the two teens knelt to chat with the very excited Addy.

Addy asserted that seeing the dresses ranked among the best parts of the whole Grand March experience, and like many other little girls, she cannot wait for her turn to wear such a beautiful gown.

“[Addy] said it is the best day in the world,” Addy’s mom and the Rayburn sisters’ trainer Danie Hill said. “It’s really fun for them to see real princesses.”

Much like Addy, Maggie and Macy remember sitting in the crowd longing for their turn to wear such beautiful attire.

“I remember coming to one of these in middle school and we had lots of older girls we looked up to,” Maggie said.

“There were a lot of older girls we looked up to,” Macy agreed. “We always wanted it to be our chance, and now it was our chance!”

Now that is has arrived Maggie thinks the whole experience, “ … was really cool.”

Macy and Maggie did not experience any conflict in picking their perfect dresses, either.

“We have really different styles,” Maggie said.

“The only thing is that we didn’t want our dresses to look alike,” Macy added.

While the sisters did not compete for the best dressed during their prom experience, Addy did not hesitate to declare Maggie’s blue dress as her favorite.

On the other side of the gym, in her own bright pink dress, 4-year-old Hadley Chilton wore wide eyes as she enjoyed the presence of young women dressed like princesses.

Hadley smiled widely as she looked up at high school junior Maddie Woodburn in her extraordinarily sparkly light pink gown.

Like any princess would, Maddie took the time to get on Hadley’s level for a multitude of photos to mark the occasion.

While Maddie said she hadn’t dreamed of wearing a pretty dress for quite some time, she felt certain that she experienced the same amount of excitement and wonder as her little fan, Hadley, when she was the same age.

When it came time to finally put on her own fancy dress, Maddie admitted, “it feels good.”

As the crowd began to thin, the young adults, who once only dreamed of being the princesses themselves, departed for their fairy tale venue at This Old Barn to dance the night away under twinkling lights, an intricate chandelier, and delicate white ribbons of fabric.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com