It has been 50 years since Wilson opened its doors in September, 1956. At some point during that
time, the tradition of selecting a Senior Prom King and Queen was started. We found out from
Nancy Reese '68 that they didn't have a Prom King and Queen during her four years at Wilson.
Nancy states, "During the sixties, we voted for the Rose Festival Princess, and the runner-up
became the May Fete Queen. She resided over the May Fete Dance, and the May Fete Assembly.
Proms were held in the cafeteria, and we decorated for two days in preparation. They definitely
didn't cost what they do today.
I was the Student Body Secretary in 1968, serving with Jeff
DiGangi, Wilson's very first non-traditional Student Body President. Prior to Jeff, all the SB
Presidents had been academics. Jeff came out with his rock band wearing all white under black
lights. At the finale he held up a toilet seat and yelled " What are we going to do with student
government? Flush it!" Needless to say, he won in a landslide. The upside was he accomplished a
great deal. We wanted more dances, so he went to the Dad's Club and got them to sponsor our
school dances. I don't remember how many we had , but it felt like every couple of weeks, and
he invited bands from within the student body to play.
As SB Secretary, I was enlisted to produce
the May Fete Assembly with all the school's resources at my disposal. The drama department
painted a back drop, and built an arch for the Queen and Princesses to walk through. The Masonic
Temple loaned us twelve swords for the football team to hold as a canopy for them to walk under,
and the WHS Band played for the ceremony. All this was made possible by Dr. Proppe, our Principal
at the time. He was an outstanding educator, and I'm sorry to say he died recently."
So that begs the question, when was the first Prom King and Queen crowned? Do you know? If you
can help us with this little bit of history, please send an email with all the details
to Linda Doyle at lsdoyle@earthlink.net. We would love to post your story on the school's
50th Anniversary website.
