Date
July 7, 2001
Theme
Train in Vain - The Clash
King and Queen
Shawn Meehan and Emma Goodson
List of attendees
| Matt Berry | J.C. Paradiso? |
| Dave Carpenter | Kristen Ciurca |
| Greg Storms | Melanie Korber |
| J.P. Miceli | Heather Chua |
| Bill Beschorner | |
| Shawn Meehan | Emma Goodson |
| Ashleigh D'Antonio | Brian Storms |
| Jen Norris | Matt Terl |
| Glen McNell | |
| Craig Brophy | |
| Matt Morgan | Julie Parsons |
| Trevor Johnson | |
| Grant Ramsey | Kasey Cummings |
| David Hill | Sara Rapier |
| Brad Lauderdale | |
| Ivane Chua | |
| Dan Preslar | Lindsay Brock |
| Jason Myers | Colleen Medlin |
| Leah Tracosas | Willa Tracosas |
| Matt Beres | Kathy Mascardo |
| Dave McNell | Jody Costa |
| Kait Houlihan | |
| Bill Lang | Laura |
| Bo Naasz | Jodi Godbout |
| Alicia Potee | |
| Melissa Barsamian | Rose |
| Dave Pallante | |
| James Mace | |
| Cathy Cibor | Tom Browne |
| Nat Thomson | |
| Ben Raymondjack | Katie |
| Beth Norris | Mike |
| Kye | |
| Joe Connely | Kevin Edwards |
| Melissa Meyer | Gerard Meyer |
| Lynn | |
| Sue Berry | Mike Berry |
| Charlie | Annie |
Special Call-In Guest
Joe Donahue
Supromlatives
| Stomp Rocket | Matt Beres |
| Trampolining | Dave Pallante |
| Longest Voyage | Ashleigh D'Antonio |
| Most Improved | Grant's Car |
| Comeback award | JC Paradiso |
| Rookie of the Year | Colleen Medlin |
| Fattest | James Mace |
| Chicken Limbo | Kasey Kummings |
| Supromolympics | Kait Houlihan, Brad Lauderdale, JC Paradiso, Ashleigh D'Antonio, Joe Connely, Heather Chua, Kevin Edwards |
Acknowledgments
| Tickets / Invitations | Dave Carpenter, Matt Berry, Greg Storms, Jim Miceli, Alan Carpenter |
| Poop Clean-up | Matt Berry |
| Landscaping | Mike Berry, Matt Berry, Shawn Meehan |
| Trampoline Transportation | Dave Carpenter, Jim Miceli, Matt Berry |
| Pre-Prom Set-up | Jim Miceli, Matt Berry, Dave Carpenter, Greg Storms, Dave Pallante, James Mace, Melanie Korber |
| Music | Matt Berry, Greg Storms, Dave Carpenter, Jim Miceli |
| Photography | Dave Carpenter |
| Cigarettes | Jim Miceli, Kristen Ciurca |
| Beer | Jim Miceli, Trevor Johnson, Matt Berry |
| Food / Cooking | Sue Berry, Mike Berry |
Write-ups
Mine
Write your own
My write-up
I'll start this story in Padonia Station, about 15 hours before Super Prom was to begin. Lots of Super Promers were there, since everyone had just gotten into town for the big event. But the big surprise was that I was there. When Brad saw me he was shocked, since my presence there meant that Super Prom preparations were ready.
Indeed they were, after a very busy day. We made CDs, the certificates, bought lots of last minute items, even set up the trampoline, and checked over the pool floats. So round about midnight Jim and I went to the Station, where everyone else was gathered. That was a good time, and at some point that night I realized that I was a genius, since I've created an event that brings all my friends together from all over the country.
So Super Prom morning I got up, and there wasn't really too much to do. I went outside to check on the floats which we had blown up the night before, and the Dragon and the Hippo were both completely deflated. At that point I realized that they were beyond repair, and I pronounced them both dead, which was a sad moment. Later Greg and his crew came over, and then Dave Pallante and I got everything all ready. Dave Pallante is pretty much the man when it comes to setting up Super Prom. Meanwhile Jim got the beer, and my Mom went to get food, and then the guests started to arrive (all the while the "Hey Song" was playing). Super Prom was supposed to start at 3:00. But we were actually ready at 2:30.
And this is shocking, if you know anything about how Super Prom set-up usually works. In 1999 I was so frantic during setup that I actually sustained a head injury. 2000 was a little better but we pretty much screwed up the Floating Rock Fountain. In 1998 when Super Prom started the beer wasn't even there yet, and neither was Dave. But this year I made being ready on time a top priority of the committee, and we succeeded. Go us!
So there everyone was, all decked out in Hawaiian wear - oh, right, Super Prom had a Hawaiian theme this year, a decision that Dave and I made about a week before - waiting for Super Prom to start. Pictured were taken, and then I gave a little pre-Super Prom speech (or perhaps more of a pep talk). And then as is inevitable, Super Prom began.
And it began in the typical fashion, I did a sailor's dive (apparently not a very good one, according to the reviews I received), and Dave started up the Floating Rock Fountain, and Greg started the music. Lust For Life once again, which I believe Brad once again complained about. I had toyed earlier in the year with the idea of changing the kick-off song, but in the end caved in to tradition. Meanwhile JP, our new committee member, needed to also have a kick-off responsibility, so he poured the first beers.
And so it was Super Prom. And it was good. I guess at first we pretty much all hung out and drank beers, sat in the Gazebo, swam, and such. The pre-made CDs were playing, and the first one was especially good, since I plan to start off Super Prom with a power-mix. People put leis on, once again there were tiny umbrellas to play with, and this year there were also crazy curly straws that some people used to drink their beers. For the record I am against drinking beer from a straw, curly and crazy though it may be, but Super Prom itself has no official position on the matter.
But one thing Super Prom is officially against is the small number of people that were there. I had asked that everyone get there at least 15 minutes early - so they could witness the big kickoff - and I would say that the turnout for the kickoff was above average. But an hour into Super Prom we just didn't have the crowd I was hoping for. And this would become a problem once the competitions were supposed to start. We needed teams of 8 for the Supromolympics, and I wanted people to start organizing their teams.
But first, the Stomp Rocket competition had to happen. Now usually getting everyone to participate in an event is a big ordeal, because I have to go around and tell everyone to come do it, and they just want to sit around and drink, and it's annoying. So this year I got myself a big 'ol whiteboard, so that I could write messages on it for everyone to see, so I wouldn't have to try so hard to get them to participate. So I wrote on it, "Stomp Rocket in 5 minutes". And then 5 minutes later, I went around and told everyone to go do Stomp Rocket and they just wanted to sit around and drink, and it was annoying. But eventually we managed to form a sizeable line in front of the Stomp Rocket, and we Stomped. Dave McNell held the record from last year, with his landing behind the Shed. This year no one got quite as far (I think the quality of the Stomp Rockets is degrading, because I know that we are getting bigger), and Matt Beres won with his Rocket landing on the roof of the Shed.
So after Stomp Rocket we returned to hanging out. I believe lots of people went into the pool, including myself. I also took a couple of jumps on the trampoline. We had gotten a brand new Slip N Slide this year, that had a little pool at the end, so a bunch of us tried that out. It was pretty cool, and got a lot more attention than the old one ever did. More people started to show up, which was also good. But still not quite enough for the Supromolympics. This was a key scheduling issue, because we can't eat until the Supromolympics are over, and Superpromers bitch incessantly when they are hungry. But we didn't seem to have enough people for even 4 teams, let alone the 6 I had prepared for. Finally, after some deliberation with Greg, we decided to start them at the end of the current CD (#2) no matter what, but at that point, Grant, Jason Myers, and Dave Hill still hadn't even shown up, since they had decided to go golfing instead of getting to Super Prom on time. But just as the CD was on its last couple songs they showed up, so I immediately told them they had to get on a team.
Actually, once again, despite having written "Form teams of 8 for the Supromolympics" on the whiteboard, I had to go around and tell everyone to get teams together and get ready for the Supromolympics, and they just wanted to sit around and drink, and it was annoying. But eventually four teams were formed, and their team captains came forward, and I went over the rules.
So I demonstrated the course at first. Which I did primarily to show off my Hula skills, which I believed the majority of the Superpromers were shocked to learn I had. And trying to do the crouquet spin is always fun. Once again I fell immediately after spinning.
So then the first round of the Supromolympics began, while we listened to CD 3 (which I'm also listening to right now, it rules!). It was Dave Pallante vs Brad in the Island Race, followed by Greg and Ivane in the Hula-off. I was the ref for Ivane's team and Dave was the ref for Greg's team. Greg finished first, so then Melanie, Dan, Ben, and Katie started the 5 legged race. And once Ivane finished Shawn, Kye, Tom, and Cathy followed. Lindsay did the Hoop crawl for Greg's team, and Emma did it for Ivane's. But at this point Greg's team already had a big lead. James was in the crouquet race for their team, and Nat started once Emma finished the hoops. Dave McNell was the ref for the crouquet race. James had a good lead, and Nat couldn't catch up. So James' team went into the second round.
But first we had to have the second heat of round one. This time it was JP against Brad in the Island Race. Followed by Colleen and Heather on the Hula Hoops. Heather Chua can Hula the hell out of a Hoop. But Colleen had a good effort as well. Heather finished first though, having gotten a good start because Brad out paddled Jim. So then Ashleigh, Kait, and Joe started the 5 legged race. I was their ref, so I was able to witness firsthand their huge fall. They ended up crawling to the finish line, but had such a good start they beat Bill, Matt Beres, Trevor, and Glen. So then JC ran through the hoops, with a good lead over Grant, a seasoned Hoop Crawl veteran from last year. Once JC finished Kevin started the crouquet race, with Jason Myers fast behind him. But Myers had an early fall, and Kevin's team advanced to the finals.
So after a short break during which I told my somewhat anxious father that he should now start the grill, it was time for Round 2. A special committee had devised the arrangement for Round 2 about a week earlier, and we were quite impressed with ourselves. The first 3 people were in a chicken-wheelbarrow race, with one person on the shoulders of the second pperson, who was holding up the legs of the third person. They would do this pretty much next to the crouquet course. Then the fourth and fifth person were in a 6 legged crab walk race, with one of their hands and feet tied together. They had to go from where the others stopped to under the volleyball net. Then the next 2 people were involved in a tricycle race. Yes, we bought 3 little tricycles for this, with streamers and a bell that rings. One would sit on the tricycle, and the other would push them up the hill towards the pool (but not into the pool). Since we had an extra tricycle Supromfficer McNell got to ride that one. Once they reached a certain line the last 2 people had to dive into the pool and retrieve these plastic green dinosaur eggs we had gotten. First holding an egg above the water wins. So it seemed like it would be pretty fun.
The 2 teams got situated, and I said 1-2-3 Go. And then about 35 seconds later Kait was holding an egg above the water. So it went much faster than expected, I guess the course was a little small, and the tricycle race went a lot faster than I thought. JC and Ash actually toppled over at the end because they were going so fast. So Brad, Kevin, Heather, Joe, JC, Ashleigh, and Kait were the Supromolympics champs.
So then the burgers were cooking, with Pops expertly working the grill once again. Meanwhile people went back to swimming, playing on the trampoline, etc. People were also trading their Super Prom 2001 Trading Cards. Yup, we made trading cards this year as tickets, and we gave everyone 5, but not their own so they would have to trade to get it. The cards were awesome, Dave and I worked on them for a long long time. They had their picture on the front, which Dave did, and I filled in the back with personal information I got from making everyone fill out a survey. Getting everyone to fill out that survey is one of the greatest achievements of my life, it was quite difficult. So people were trading cards with each other, I think somebody managed to get all the Daves, and someone else went for a Berry set. If people hadn't gotten their own card they were supposed to be thrown into the pool by our newly appointed Supromfficer, Dave McNell. He actually did throw Ivane in the pool, but that happens every year anyway.
So the cheeseburgers were getting made, and we were eating them as fast as we could. We also had potato salad and pasta salad, oh so delicious. My mom had gotten crazy amount of food, so there was plenty to go round. In fact we had leftovers at the house for a long time. While the eating was happening I wrote up on the whiteboard, "Vote for King and Queen." Then I went around and told everyone to vote for King and Queen, and they just wanted to sit there and eat and drink, and it was annoying. Actually, getting people to vote is one of the easier things to do, since it requires little effort on their part. Plus that's fun for me, since I get to exert my influence over who people vote for. And there was definitely a couple that I wanted to win, though I have to allow a fair vote to take place.
So after we ate it started getting dark, and I called off the voting and started counting them. As reigning King counting was my responsibilty, and I did it alone as my Queen was not there. Currently 2 of the 5 King and Queens are still together, and 2 of 4 Queens were not invited to Super Prom the year after crowning (though 4 of the 5 Queens are currently on the guest list). So to be fair I guess if Emma and Shawn break up I'll have to kick Shawn off the guest list. Hmmm.
So after the counting it was getting darker, and the Awards Ceremony was approaching. The Awards Ceremony follows the Theme Countdown, where all the past Super Prom themes are played. And since the music is all pre-arranged, I could tell that the Ceremony was coming up. This means that we had to decide who was going to win all the awards. This involved me going up to Dave, Greg, and Jim, and getting them to agree with whoever I had picked out to win those awards months in advance. Well, not quite, but I would call the decision making process hurried and arbitrary. Then we had to organize all the prizes and certificates, and of course put people's names on the certificates and sign them. So while the Theme Countdown started the Committee was over by the Sunroom signing certificates. The was a bit hurried, since we wanted to get it over with. Greg in fact said, "Matt, this is my favorite part about Super Prom", meaning the Theme Countdown and expressing his dissatisfaction at spending it signing. But we finished in the middle of "Sweet Child 'O Mine". With plenty of time to spare before "Eternal Flame", during which we all danced with our dates.
Once "Eternal Flame" was over the Awards Ceremony began. Despite having written "Awards Ceremony" on the whiteboard, starting the Ceremony was not annoying at all. Given that there's no music playing I pretty much just have to stand on the diving board and I have everyone's attention. So I started with the usual round of thanks, which including introducing our new Committee Member, Jim Miceli. Then we got into the Awards. First off we gave a special tribute to the Diving Contest, which we got rid of due to the aforementioned annoyance of running events. So we gave a sort of Lifetime Acheivement Award to Matt Morgan for having had won the Diving Contest every year. And we also gave a "Most Likely to Never Win the Diving Contest" to Jim, who lost to Matt every year.
Then the standard awards. Stomp Rocket went to Matt Beres, and Kait, JC, Ash, Brad, Joe, and Kevin got the Supromolympics. Those two are easy since they are actually contests. We gave Trampolining to Dave Pallante, who was the only one to fall off the trampoline. Rookie of the Year we decided to give to Colleen Medlin, who came with Jason Myers. I won't say why we gave it to her, but I'm pretty excited about how the bar has now been raised on getting that one. The usual Farthest Distance was changed to Longest Voyage, so we could give it to Ashleigh, who had spent a 50-some hour bus ride to get to Super Prom from South Dakota. Best Comeback went to JC, after she had missed the last 2 Super Proms because she was in Italy. Being off the continent is really the only acceptable excuse for missing Super Prom. We decided to take a different approach to Most Improved this year. Grant's Car ended up winning, because he used to drive a really old, piece of shit Tercel, with a broken antenna and dented up hood, and now he has a new black Civic. The last Award on the list was the infamous Fat Contest. We didn't have an actual contest this year though, and the Committee pretty much gave it out haphazardly, from the many eligible fat guys at Super Prom. We decided on James Mace, and he wore the award (a boys size 5 t-shirt), with pride.
After the Supromlatives are all awarded, the King and Queen Crowning is next. So for that I changed roles from Committee President to SP2K King, so I could Crown the winners. This involved me putting on my Gigantic Chicken Taco Crown that Dave and Kristen made for me last year. Then I announced the winners, Shawn and Emma, who of course I had been pulling for. They actually pretty much won in a landslide. So they came forward and we presented them with their crowns, again made by Dave and Kristen. This year they were Gigantic Tiki Masks, which is why we had the Hawaiian Theme. They were totally awesome. So Shawn and Emma thanked the crowd. Then, as tradition dictates, they removed the Crowns and put paper bags over their heads and jumped into the pool, while we played the Theme. Actually, tradition dictates that you dive into the pool with paper bags over your heads while fully clothed, but Emma was in her bathing suit and Shawn just wore his boxers, so that's cheating. No one has actually successfully dived into the pool hand-in-hand since Dave and Ashleigh though. The Theme was "Train in Vain", which is my favorite Clash song, and it had won the Theme Choosing Gala. I should point out that I was originally pulling for "Hungry Like the Wolf", so don't let anyone ever tell you that I just choose the Theme myself.
So I've always wanted to promote dancing at Super Prom, and this was a movement that got some support by others this year, notably Kasey and Dave McNell. So I had a big plan about how I was going to make this happen. There would be a dance CD, after the Theme played, and I thought I had developed an ingenius way of getting everyone to dance. After the Theme, I put on "The Safety Dance", because when that song plays at Super Prom everyone always gets up and does the Safety Dance around the pool (yes, that would be irony). It didn't happen at SP2K but at SP99 there was a whole bunch of people doing it. Then after "The Safety Dance", I put on "Jump Around", figuring that when everyone, who were already up from doing the Safety Dance, heard "Jump Around", they would immediately begin Jumping Around. That song definitely has that effect on me. "Jump Around" was then followed by various other dance songs, and I figured there would be a huge group of people dancing on the Deck.
However, this plan ultimately failed, as so many of my plans do (exemplified by the number of girls I've slept with). I noticed the failure immediately, when during "The Safety Dance" I realized that Jim and Brad were the only ones doing the Safety Dance. And we lost Jim when he got pushed in the pool (again, irony). And of course, when "Jump Around" started, no one started Jumping Around. Well, I did, and eventually some others did join me, but not the masses I was hoping for. Well, maybe next year.
So the Dance CD continued, and there was a small group of people dancing, of which I was a member. Ash was dancing a lot, and Kasey did to a couple of songs. My moment of glory came when "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Nikki French's version of course) came on, which is just the best song ever. That was followed by Sir Mixa Lot's classic, "Baby Got Back".
And then an incident happened. I'm not really going to go into it here, if you were there you know what it is, unless you are completely oblivious, and if you weren't someone who was there can tell you. If you don't know anyone who goes to Super Prom then how did you find my webpage and why are you reading this ridiculously long write-up? Seriously, I want to know, email me.
Anyway, this incident was bad bad stuff, and made my parents extremely upset, which in turn made me extremely upset. So things were really bad for a while, for a bunch of people, while others had yet to know anything was going on. After a long talk with my parents though, we started to get over it a little, and they told me to start having fun again. So I went back outside, and said it was time to start having fun again, and everyone out there who didn't know what was happening yet went "Huh?". Then we explained everything to them, and we all started making jokes about it. So that made things a little better.
But during the incident the music had died off, as the Dance CD ended. There was supposed to be another CD afted that, but it never made it on. Greg, Matt Beres and Tom were originally supposed to play guitar after the last CD, but we decided they should play then instead of turning the music back on. So they played over on the deck, and a bunch of people sat over by them. I was in the Gazebo talking with some other people. I guess at this point things were starting to get a little more laid back.
After those guys finished playing it was time for the final event, Chicken Limbo. It was pretty late by this point - as the incident had cost us a whole bunch of time - so my parents were very concerned about the noise. However we played Chicken Limbo anyway, which I thought would be quiet but apparently isn't. As always I was quickly eliminated after hearing the Chicken squawk at me. Kasey ended up being the winner.
So after that we all just kind of sat around and talked. At some point the kegs were kicked so we switched over to the cans. I pretty much stayed in the Gazebo for the rest of the night. People started leaving at some point, in a gradual exodus. Eventually it was me, Greg, James, Grant, Bill, Trevor, Jim, and my Dad left. At this point Grant had completely covered himself in leis. My Dad eventually went to bed, and that was followed by Bill and Trevor both starting to pass out in their chairs. We had to give out the First to Pass Out award, so I called both of their names. Bill responded, and Trevor did not, so I then duct taped the First to Pass Out certificate to Trevor.
Then Grant went home, after retrieving Kasey who was sleeping in the family room with my dogs. I guess a little bit after that Greg and James took off, which left me and Jim and two passed out guys. Jim went off to bed in the guestroom, so I got Trevor and Bill into the basement. At this point it started raining, so I went around frantically trying to get all sorts of stuff inside the house. That took a while, and considering my drunken state I probably didn't do a very good job.
Eventually I decided I had protected all the things that needed protecting from the rain, and I returned to the Gazebo for a final drink and smoke, while I reflected on Super Prom 8. I felt a little disapointed, a lot of people we were expecting didn't show up, people seemed to not stay as long, there was the incident and that whole situation, running Super Prom is kind of annoying, and did I even really have fun at Super Prom anymore, and is it all worth it, and why am I wasting all this damned time planning this stupid dumb pool party?
Then I realized that I was just bitter because I didn't get laid,
and I went to bed.
Corrections, comments, additions, etc. mail me.
