Rock Hill high school seniors hold prom for Westminster Towers residents

Bennett and Etah Kirkpatrick held each other tight, looking into each other’s eyes as they swayed to the music Saturday at Westminster Towers’ Senior Prom.

Etah recalled their first dance – she asked him to a dance while a student at Winthrop College in the early 1950s. They were dating at the time. They have now been married 54 years.

On Saturday, as the tune ended, Etah’s first words were “marvelous.”

Memorable would have worked too. Saturday’s dance was their first in three years because of a stroke Bennett suffered. “This makes big a difference,” she said.

While Westminster Towers, a senior living facility in Rock Hill, has a full slate of activities for its residents, Saturday’s senior prom was the work of different seniors – high school students at Northwestern, South Pointe and Westminster Catawba Christian schools.

Northwestern seniors Caroline Sumwalt and Kathleen Barkley had the idea. Both volunteer at Westminster Towers, and Sumwalt’s grandfather, Vernon, lives there.

At first the idea was to show off their prom dresses to residents. It soon evolved into a full-fledged prom with decorations, a king and queen, music, dancing, photos and refreshments.

“They should have a special night as we are having one ourselves,” Sumwalt said. Northwestern’s prom is this coming Saturday.

The variety of work that went into the Westminster prom met some of the requirements International Baccalaureate students must fulfill outside the classroom. But the students said Saturday’s prom was more rewarding than just fulfilling a school requirement.

“I just love hearing their stories; these are pure souls,” said Ashley Rinehart of Northwestern.

The prom’s theme was “Nifty ’50s,” and the students learned about the decade’s music, the sock hops and the malt shops. The students admitted they really didn’t know much about the period before selecting it as the prom theme.

The prom’s sound track also included many big-band tunes of the 1940s, when many of the current Westminster residents served in the military or waited for loved ones to come home from World War II.

“Our goal is to take them back in time,” Sumwalt said.

Vernon Sumwalt, 92, recalled one war-time dance at the University of South Carolina that he attended in his dress white Navy uniform. That got him lots of attention, he said.

Sumwalt also had lots of attention Saturday from his granddaughter and her friends – and his two dates. Sumwalt asked residents Gloria Cody and Ernie Howard to the dance.

At Westminster Towers, the women outnumber the men.

Marion Schaefer, 83, remembered her prom in Pittsburgh where the couples were so anxious to show off their outfits they took two streetcars and a bus to get home from the prom’s downtown location for an after-prom gathering of friends and family. Her gown that evening was black with blue trim. Her outfit Saturday was also blue.

Hugh Barnett, 102, and his friend, Cynthia D. Tursi, were named prom king and queen. It was Barnett’s first prom. His high school graduation class had about 10 people and instead of a dance they had a fish fry.

In contrast, Saturday’s prom had about 100 people.

Mae Williams, who turns 104 today and who still bowls three times a week, took a spin on the dance floor with Brogan Gaskill, a senior at Northwestern.

Williams’ spirit impressed Gaskill. “I learned you are never too old to dance. It’s all about attitude and not age.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Rock Hill high school seniors hold prom for Westminster Towers residents."