A Pamlico High School Ritual: Bedecked, Bedazzled and Ablaze

Hours before the lights go down and the DJ starts, before the limos and fancy cars pull into the parking lot of the Delamar Center, where this year’s Pamlico County High School prom will be held, couples and their families journey with their corsages and cameras to Union Point Park in New Bern, the nearest city of any size to Pamlico County.

Juniors and seniors strut past the park swings they once ran to. Rhinestone-studded pointy heels sink in the soft grass. The prom guests make their pilgrimage for photos to the formal Neuse River waterfront and its tiered-roof gazebo—the long highway 55 bridge that extends over the river, to the county, is far in background.

It’s time to show off. Parents stand back and smile with pride and nervousness. Their new adults give them cues on how to take the photos. Childhood friends and little brothers are forced into the frame. Freshly washed trucks and SUVS are used as an alternate backdrop.

Seagulls shriek, upset by the newcomers’ intrusion to the shores they normally rule. It is a grey afternoon, and cold. Those wearing blazers welcome the chill. The young women with bare shoulders do their best to pose without chattering teeth. Mothers and aunts elbow young men to share jackets with their dates.

From afar, the bright colors in fashion this year—red, white and blue—look patriotic. Young men wear formal pant legs that are short and tapered, many with slipper-like shoes and no socks. Bedecked with rhinestones and tiaras and eyelids bedazzled, the young women wear elegant dresses that are long and straight, often off one shoulder. There is permed hair, styled hair, straightened hair, blown hair, extensions and up-dos. Ariana Cox, a senior, has colored her hair brilliant red.

Over two hours are spent on photos before their dinner reservations at one of New Bern’s restaurants, and then, back to the county for the yearly dance of expectations.

“Stay safe, make good decisions,” a dad says, looking over his glasses, in a serious tone. The message is echoed through the park by all parents, memories ablaze.

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