Higgins: Drove My Chevy To The Levee

Drove My Chevy to the Levee

When presented with the word “levee” most people of a certain age will start singing “Bye Bye Miss American Pie,” the iconic Don McLean melody with the recurring chorus “drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was dry.”

In this song Levee refers to an embankment, (think New Orleans) designed to control water.

For me, and hundreds of Concord High School Students for over a century, the term Levee meant one thing and one thing only. The senior prom!

Almost all high schools in America put on a prom for their seniors, (and often juniors) to celebrate the end of the school year and to mark a new beginning. Traditionally held in gymnasiums or church halls, proms over the years have morphed into fancy out of school affairs that now take place in hotel ballrooms, theaters, dance halls and wedding venues.

Concord High School’s “prom” has an interesting history, one that sets it apart from other high schools. But before I delve into the local CHS Levee history let me set the stage.

This year’s rendition of The Levee will be taking place at Concord High School.

Other than 2021, when Covid restrictions dictated that it could only be held there, it has not been at CHS since 1970. But it will be this year. It will not be at The Bank of NH Stage, it’s home for the last few years. It will not be at The Atrium behind Tandy’s, a site that would have made a lovely backdrop for a formal farewell.

At the beginning of the school year, there was no reason to think it would not be at The BNH Stage. When that venue fell through, The Atrium was offered as another downtown location. I got married in that atrium. It is a wonderful space.

But the Levee will not be at BNH Stage or at The Atrium, or at many of the former venues that have hosted The CHS Prom, including The Grappone Center, The Mount Washington, Gunstock, a variety of venues in Manchester, Bedford, or in a tent at Shaker Road School.

It will be at Concord High School.

Why, you ask?

Well, the quick, polite answer is simply that the key elements of communication and information sharing that should have come from the first two mentioned venues were not executed.

The next part of the answer includes logistics, money, time, and student safety, which must all take priority over a downtown backdrop when organizing an event of this magnitude.

Who organizes these events?

School staff, secretaries, teachers, teaching assistants, and administrators. The Levee is sponsored by the senior class, so senior officers, student volunteers and the staff advisor, in this case Lisa Lamb start the planning in September.

I want to begin the next piece of this article by sharing that in my seven years of teaching at CHS, I was the Varsity Club Advisor. I organized the Homecoming Dance. The hours I spent away from my own children so that the children of other people could have a positive experience added up to well over 100 from meeting number one to dance cleanup. The CSD folks behind these events are meticulous in their planning.

Concord High School will have its Senior Prom (Levee) on June 12. The planning committee learned that The BNH Stage had been booked in November. The planning committee then found The Atrium and work started in December. After almost five months of effort, the planning committee found out The Atrium was no longer feasible.

This news was delivered on May 21.

Lisa and her senior class officers had 22 days to find and create Plan C.

CHS principal Tim Herbert stepped in and stated that it would be at Concord High School.

Here is where things get dicey.

The students were heartbroken. In their minds, one more event in their high school gymnasium did not an acceptable prom make.

The parents of these students were angry. (I can imagine the complaints and accusations they heard from their children were loud and uttered out of frustration and disappointment.)

The text messages, emails, and social media posts flowed my way.

After a heartfelt and informative conversation with Lisa, I decided that a very public history of the CHS Levee and all that has gone into it would ease the disappointment of and give historical perspective to our current CHS seniors.

The Concord High School Levee was first held in 1897. It was not a “senior prom,” but rather a celebratory dance that followed a military cadet drill competition. The drill team, founded shortly after the Civil War (1865) was a compulsory part of high school for boys. Concord also had two girls drill teams. There were annual competitions that grew into community events, as community members would also participate. As participation grew, it was decided to hold a community dance of celebration at the conclusion of the event.

A drill team competition, a parade with the band, a formal march into a grand ball. It was held at White’s Opera House (until it burned down), which was on the corner of Park and Main Streets. This Levee tradition lasted until the start of World War One, with community members packing Phoenix Hall and the State Armory to take part.

Ok, so why is it called “The Levee”?

The term Levee has French origins and describes a formal reception held at sunrise by French Royalty. It then traveled to Canada, where it was used to describe a formal reception held by military officers. It was a logical title for this celebratory ball.

Concord High School held this event for roughly 20 years before the drill team competitions were discontinued. The Levee was then moved to the Concord High School Hall and occurred just prior to graduation.

The CHS Levee occurred at the high school (North State Street, North Spring Street, and Warren Street locations) for the next sixty years. Although it was no longer a community event, its rich history continued to set it apart from the typical senior prom.

In 1971 The Levee was moved to The Highway Hotel. Students from 1971 through 1988 experienced their senior dance the Thursday before graduation in this iconic venue. Like White’s Opera House, The Highway Hotel burned to the ground.

This is where history and tradition sort of disappear. For the next decade or so the dance bounced from a variety of hotel ballrooms, primarily in Manchester as Concord did not have a hotel with a ballroom at that time. The Mount Washington and Gunstock were single time locations. It was held in late May and early June for those transient years, which proved to be a logistical nightmare.

In 2000 or so the event returned to its Thursday night pre-graduation date and took place at Shaker Road School. While a prom in a tent in a field may not be glamorous, it was unique and set the event apart from other schools.

It also instituted “The Red Carpet,” a CHS Levee staple.

The original Levee had a parade of participants entering the dance to music and cheering. When I went in 1981, we walked over a little wooded bridge in the main lobby as parents took pictures from the stairs and balcony.

In the field of East Concord, grass and mud needed to be dealt with. Hence, the red carpet was born. It has remained a fixture since, in every prom venue.

But the title of The Levee has all but disappeared.

While current prom goers and their parents are mostly unaware of the Levee’s history, the return to downtown felt like full circle to long time Concord folks. The high school as a venue feels somewhat the same. For roughly six consecutive decades The Levee called the CHS gym home.

So, back to 2025.

Is the CHS gym the most popular choice? No.

Will it be an amazing event? Yes.

Should seniors and their dates embrace the 2025 Senior Levee with enthusiasm and gratitude? Yes.

And here is why.

They won’t remember the details of the location. They won’t remember the theme or the decorations after a while. Heck they might not even remember who they went with. In my research for this article almost none of the respondents who went to a hotel for their prom remembered the name of it. Many of the Shaker Road participants only remember that it was “in a field” and that they had to park off site and take a shuttle.

While those who were at The Highway Hotel and/or at CHS seemed to remember that location, almost none of them remembered what it actually looked like.

They did, however, remember the following.

They remembered their friends.

They remembered the organized after events, such as swimming parties at Copoco, overnights at NH College and The Racquet Club.

They recalled driving to a friend’s lake house or to the beach.

They remembered their dress (the girls) and often the color of their date’s Tuxedo.

They remembered the shenanigans.

I graduated in 1981. The Levee was at The Highway Hotel. In my minds eye I remember very little of the event details themselves.

But I DO remember driving to dinner (I actually drove my chevy to the levee!). I remember we ate at The Millyard.

I remember that the drinking age was 18 so lots of prom goers were under the influence. I remember that my date disappeared. (You will have to listen to my podcast on Tuesday the 10th for more details.)

I remember driving to Jane’s lake house on Great East Lake and sleeping on the roof of the boat house.

I remember my dress.

Would it have been nice for this year’s seniors to have another Main Street Red Carpet? Yes.

Would The Bank of NH Stage been an awesome location? Yes. (Governor’s Hall as well).

Can future Levee’s be held there? Yes.

(When things began to crumble this year, several community members including Steve Duprey reached out and offered support. They will continue to be a big part of future CHS Levee celebrations. Many parents reached out as well, to offer their help and support.)

But the 2025 Levee, THIS YEARS senior prom, complete with a parent reception an hour prior to give interested moms and dads a glimpse of the festivities, a Warren Street into CHS red carpet beneath a canopy of lights, and a dance held in a gym no one will recognize is going to be held.

For the Class of 2025.

And it is going to be awesome.

This year’s seniors are allowed to be angry. They are allowed to feel disappointed. They are also allowed to throw caution to the wind and say f*ck it, let’s go have a good time.

Are there people involved in this venue mishap that are responsible?

Indeed, there are, but wasting energy on something that cannot be rectified is a waste of time.

Lisa and her crew are working nonstop to make an event that will provide all the necessary “prom requirements”, good food, good music, a place for you to gather with your friends one last time in your high school with a red carpet to walk in on.

So go create your prom story, remember it, and share it, for years to come.

The 129th Concord High School Levee will take place on Thursday June 12th at CHS.

Make it a good one!!