Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 6, 2009
Weekly Indulgence
Samara Litvack
This year, I’ve had the distinct honor of co-chairing the Creative Discovery Museum’s young professional signature event. For the second year, the Tower Club hosted its fall murder mystery party, with proceeds providing admission and scholarships to the museum for underserved children in the
community.
The first time I heard this year’s theme –1980s prom – I was excited, and I’ve stayed that way ever since. And after half a year of collaborative preparations, I attended the event as a guest.
I woke up that morning with a smile on my face. After months of planning and outlining and physical (yes, physical) labor, ‘80s prom had finally arrived. As my friends arrived in Chattanooga, couple by couple, my excitement grew.
When the time finally came to begin our transformations, I gathered my armfuls of gaudy garb and headed upstairs with the girls.
For an hour, we listened to our very own ‘80s prom soundtrack while we primped. Some bangles, blue and yellow eye shadow and a half can of Aquanet later, we swung by The Chattanoogan to pick up the fourth of our prom couples. You should have seen the looks on everyone’s faces (of course there was some sort of fancy convention going on that night) when Lita Ford and Gene Simmons – complete with matching mullets – exited the building and hopped in the back of my car.
We arrived shortly after 7 p.m. and, as we entered the museum, what we saw was better than I’d ever imagined. Hundreds of hand-foiled stars twinkled in the sky. A sea of crimped hair, bad makeup, leg warmers and sequins filled the atrium. Prom guests were posing in front of the blue and silver balloon arch for photos, entering each other’s names in the king/queen raffle and curiously admiring their surroundings.
My group grabbed a round of cocktails and headed upstairs to Carrabba’s, which had provided CDM High School’s very own Dinner Date area, complete with salad, entrées and breadsticks. From our table, we could see the atrium below filling with neon colors and Miami Vice-style suits. After dinner, we headed back downstairs just in time for the game to begin.
Principal Madonna Froman delivered her welcome and regretfully informed us that, due to Reagan and his budgetary cuts, all school functions were being performed at the prom. Before she could finish, however, she died a very dramatic, foam-at-the-mouth kind of death. Newly appointed Vice Principal “Weird” Al Plissken then sent us in groups to begin our tour of each school activity, and to collect clues as to who killed Ms. Froman.
First, we met Demi Roberts, the mourning girlfriend of Johnny Castle-Stein, the CDMHS quarterback who died tragically when his spleen burst during a football game. Johnny, along with the rest of the football team, had contracted mononucleosis and the entire school was mourning his loss. We also met Mr. Griswold, the guidance counselor who was equally creepy and suspicious, as he had been up for the vice principal position and had lost to Mr. Plisskin. We moved past the Chess Club, through a performance by Drama Club, to the Spanish Club’s “Casa de Fantasmas,” learning along the way that most school clubs were facing budget cuts and many teachers were bitter about not being selected to fill the vice principal position.
At the pep rally, we learned Coach Kruger was upset with the principal for forcing Johnny to play in the game that had killed him. From there, we visited the Art and Glee Clubs, both of which were worried about being cut altogether. (Awesomely, at the Glee Club performance, two guys from my group were called up for an impromptu performance of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which the whole crowd sang at top volume.)
We ended our tour at the Science Fair, where one student introduced the invention of the hair scrunchie and another offered an inventive way to make a grilled cheese. Here, the science teacher also complained of budget cuts, giving us one final suspect to add to our lists.
As we reconvened in the atrium, my group took prom photos at the balloon arch. It was then revealed that the rather inept guidance counselor, who was trying to kill the vice principal, had inadvertently killed the principal. After a slow motion fight scene ensued, dead football quarterback Johnny appeared and, in all his zombie glory, performed an awesome rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with the cheerleaders. The crowd (myself, especially) went wild.
We spent the rest of the night dancing to a gnarly mix of ‘80s tunes and the near the end of the night, prom court was announced. Each lucky winner received authentic ‘80s prizes (records, VHS tapes and game systems), as well as crowns and an assortment of other school-related goodies.
Before I knew it, my friends and I (along with a handful of actors and a couple photogs) were the only people left on the dance floor. Our prom had come to an end and I had numb feet (stupid black pumps), a prom queen friend (I still can’t believe she won!) and more than 200 pictures to show for it.
In all, Tower Club’s 1980s Prom Murder Mystery Party was a huge success. I enjoyed it as a guest and take great pride in knowing I co-chaired an event that raised money for such a wonderful cause. To view pictures of the event, visit www.423braggingrights.com and click the “80s Prom Murder Mystery” link. For more information on the Tower Club, contact the museum at 423-756-2738 or visit www.cdmfun.com.
Contact Samara at samara@hamiltoncountyherald.
com.
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