A Night on the Water starts with Prom in the Park

Prom means dressing up and looking good for the cameras, but for students it also means gathering at in Huntington Woods for a beloved tradition known as Prom in the Park.

Just after 5 p.m. Thursday it begins: party buses and limos roll up, teenage girls wearing varying lengths of dresses with heels and boys in tuxedos with ties of every color emerge from the vehicles, and the camera flashes from a crowd of family and friends gathered in the little park start.

“It’s a really special experience,” Sam Sanford said as he took a photo of his son Nicholas and his date in front of one of the park’s many trees. “This is a significant part of your child’s life and you get to share it with them and all the other parents who are going through the same emotions as you.”

Soon the entire park is full of parents trying to find their children as they run around looking at their friends’ attire. Younger siblings look envious as their elder brothers and sisters smile for the camera, waiting for when it’s their turn to participate in the tradition.

“I remember coming here as a little kid and watching the older kids take pictures before prom,” Berkley senior Charlie Draker-Ohren said. “It’s something you look forward to as you grow up.”

This year’s prom theme is “A Night on the Water” and the dance was being held at the Detroit Yacht Club. Yet for most of the students, whatever the theme or the location it wouldn’t be the same without meeting in the park first.

“You get to see everyone together looking their best,” Draker-Ohren explained. “At prom you don’t really have the same opportunity since you’re busy dancing and eating.”

Although Prom in the Park does not date back to her days in high school, class of 1975 graduate Denise Butash said traditions have always been strong at Berkley.

“I don’t remember what I did before prom,” Butash said. “But I do remember on Senior Skip Day we stole the Big Boy statue from the Southfield restaurant and I know senior pranks like that continue on today.”

This spring she came to take pictures of her godson Dylan Jabouri, a Berkley senior, and his date, but also to catch up with old high school friends as she does every year at this event.

“There’s this warm and fuzzy feeling I get coming here,” Butash said. “I see all the people I went to school with and their children. Even if some move away, they usually come back to raise their families because of the good community, good schools and good families, and Prom in the Park really illustrates that.”