LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
New Trend at Sitka High: the Promposal
By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER
Sentinel Staff Writer
For his last prom at Sitka High School, senior Jesse Lantiegne decided he needed to go all out.
So, he enlisted some friends to help him inflate some 1,500 balloons for a surprise for his longtime girlfriend Alex Kirby.
“It took four hours to do it,” he said. “My friends didn’t know what they were getting into.”
Kirby, also a senior, was in Seattle dress shopping for the weekend and was to return that Sunday night.
When she got home, she found her bedroom filled with brightly-colored balloons, and a dapper Lantiegne hidden among them. He jumped out with a sign: “Prom would be poppin’ with you.”
Jesse Lantiegne and Alex Kirby pose after Lantiegne popped the (prom) question. (Photo provided)
Kirby, of course, said yes, although she had sort of suspected Lantiegne was up to something. One of their pals who was helping with balloons sent out a Snapchat with a photo of the shenanigans, not knowing that Kirby was in the group getting the post.
“I was kind of surprised,” she said. “I didn’t expect that many balloons.”
Their story is just one of many crazy ways Sitka High teens have wooed their prospective dates for the prom, which will be held Saturday night at Allen Hall. The theme of the dance is “Cafe Terrace at Night.”
Prom proposals have become more popular at high schools around the nation in the last few years.
“They’re fun,” Kirby said, “and social media really made it a bigger deal than it used to be. People see funny or super sweet promposals and try to one-up them.”
That’s certainly the case in Sitka, where prom proposals have been quite inventive.
“I walked up on a zombie one upstairs,” Sitka High Assistant Principal Sondra Lundvick said. “It’s gotten a little more flamboyant. It’s been much more planned.”
Students have covered cars in sticky tabs, paired puns with boxes of donuts and even gotten others to help with the ask. Some of the prom proposals seem much more elaborate than ones for marriage.
SHS junior Elias Erickson enlisted KCAW Program Director Max Kritzer to help him win his date.
Erickson took his friend Kamryn Dodson, also a junior, out for ice cream and a drive on a recent Friday night. They were listening to the radio and then heard Kritzer read community calendar announcements.
“He said, ‘we have one more special community announcement,’” Erickson said. “He turned on super cheesy love music and said, ‘Kami, would you go to prom with Elias?’”
Erickson then whipped out a bouquet of flowers for his date. She was gobsmacked.
“It was funny,” he said. “It was perfect.”
Senior Abbey Craig received a very public prom proposal in her homeroom.
Her friend and freshman Mikey Parsly walked into her class with a handmade poster, balloons, a flower, Girl Scout cookies and chocolates, she said.
The sign said, “Starlight, starbright would you be my date on prom night?”
“I found (the rhyme) on the internet,” Parsly said.
Craig said the spectacle was a welcome sight.
“I was supposed to go with someone else and he saved me,” she said.
The element of surprise is an essential part of any good proposal.
Tatum Bayne’s light-hearted ask came after school. She said her pal Mason Hillerman brought her two of her favorite foods – mashed potatoes and mac and cheese – along with a funny message: “This must sound cheesy but I must ‘mash’ you a question. Would you go to prom with me?”
Prom proposals at Sitka High are starting to become an expected thing, Craig said.
“If you don’t (get one) it’s a little bit of a disappointment,” she said.
But they’re only one part of the whole rite-of-passage prom experience, Kirby said.
“It’s not even mostly about the dance,” she said. “It’s about dressing up and getting pictures with your friends.”
Both Kirby and Lantiegne agreed that their last dance is bittersweet.
“But it’s exciting to move on,” Lantiegne said.
Kirby, for one, will have something to remember the occasion.
“I still have little balloon pieces in my room,” she said with a smile.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.