Home Local News Hobbs prom to be held next month in Texas

Hobbs prom to be held next month in Texas

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Call it another step toward normalcy. Call it the social event of the summer. Call it a bunch of high school parents who were mad and disappointed their children weren’t going to experience one of life’s monumental moments — high school prom — so they took it upon themselves to make sure they would.

And just like that, the Hobbs Community Prom 2020 is a reality.

On Thursday, July 16, the HHS Class of 2020 is scheduled to have prom for any HHS student — freshmen to seniors. Given today’s needs for personal safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be some changes from a “normal” prom. However things like crowning a prom king or queen, won’t be one of those changes.

And as an added bonus to the Class of 2020, some elements of a senior bash are expected to be implemented into the prom. All those details are still being worked out. Due to Texas’ relaxed guidelines regarding the pandemic, the chosen venue is Sunset West Event Center, 124 County Road 315, about 17 miles east of Hobbs. The event will be from 6-10 p.m. MST.

“We are still working out a lot of the details,” said Brittny Huffman, who is co-organizing the event with fellow high school mom Mika Newey, “but what’s cool about this venue is our kids won’t have to travel to Seminole and risk infection. This building hasn’t been used in over a year, so it will be clean and only people from our community will be in this building.”

The idea of having a prom came to fruition last week when a social media post was made to gauge interest. Newey said she called some local businesses that would deal directly with the prom, to find out if purchasing corsage and rental tuxedos would be possible. By early this week, the support and interest had grown dramatically.

“I talked to the owner of Everything Nice last weekend and then again over the weekend and she said there had already been people in her store finishing payments on dresses and getting dresses altered, because they heard there was a chance of having a prom,” Newey said. “Kids are excited.”

The duo is part of a core group of parents who started with an idea, and has grown to a group of 20 parents and children all working to make a prom event happen. The group also hired a local safety company to consult with the COVID-19 logistics as well.

“We have a lot of people involved with us,” said Newey. “Including a safety group to help us keep the event as safe as possible for everyone who is going to be there.”

Once established, the safety procedures will be available when tickets are ready to be sold. Huffman and Newey said a limited number of tickets will be available.

Now that school is officially out for summer, Hobbs Municipal Schools has no responsibility regarding its students. So the school district can’t be affiliated with the prom.

“This is not a school-sponsored event, but we have their support, which we are so thankful for,” Newey said. “They have helped us so much with ideas and logistics on how to operate a prom event. Giving us ideas on things we never would have considered. They have been so helpful.”

The downfall to not having the school district’s involvement is the event comes with a price tag the committee will have to be responsible for. The building’s rental fee, DJ services, security, safety company’s costs and snacks and drinks, are some of the costs. There will be ticket sales, but those won’t cover all of the expected costs.

“We are 100 percent based off of donations,” Huffman said, who added a GoFundme page has been started to raise $2,000, and a bank account has been established.

“What’s really important is that tickets will go on sale, but everything that is over our expenses of putting the event on, will go back to the senior class as a senior bash activity,” Huffman said. “Usually they do something like gift cards and such, so we are planning on having that component of the bash as well as some others.”

Newey and Huffman both stressed the support doesn’t have to be just financial.

“It’s hard during this economic environment to go to a business asking for donations,” Huffman said. “We’ll have the GoFundme account and the bank account if anyone wants to donate. Or if they have something in kind that they can help us with. A case of water would go a long way for us.”

“We will have individually wrapped snacks and the gift cards as well,” said Newey. “So any donations would be gladly accepted and turned over to those kids.”

To volunteer or donate to Hobbs Community Prom 2020, send emails to Huffman at brittxok1@yahoo.com, or to Newey at mikanewey1@gmail.com. The bank account established is at First American Bank under Hobbs Prom Committee.

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