Mead Teens Celebrate Prom Night In Style

Prom for Mead senior Adam Morris will bring back memories of plane rides, limos and a sunset dinner at the Space Needle - but probably not hundreds of air vents he made to finance the spendy extravaganza.

Morris and fellow Mead senior Mandi Larson did their prom in no-expense-spared fashion last weekend, taking their dates on a cross-state flight for a limo ride to Seattle’s show piece restaurant.

With the setting sun crying red and orange off Elliot Bay, the foursome feasted on crab and rack of lamb. They then hopped a flight back in time to catch the prom at Fort Wright-Mukogawa.

Larson went with two-year boyfriend Steve Pry. Morris took girlfriend Alison Beatty.

“It’s something we’ll never forget, that’s for sure,” said Larson, 18.

She and Morris began planning the fete at Christmas - and began socking away money. Neither student’s parents paid for the indulgence.

Larson saved about $400 working as a waitress at the Spokane Country Club. Morris, who makes air ducts for a Spokane vent company, cut his costs by using a frequent flyer ticket. He still dished out about $300.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh, jeez, no way,”’ said Darrell Larson, Mandi’s dad. “But then, I don’t remember what I did prom night. I think it’s really neat that these four are never going to forget prom night.”

They had a temporary hitch in their plans when the flight to Seattle was delayed an hour. That gave time for the parents to snap rolls of pictures.

But the experience was postcard perfect. “The thing that stuck out was the view from the Space Needle,” said Morris, 18, a football star who will play for Oregon’s Linfield College next year. “It was a perfect day, no clouds in the sky.”

Larson also got a bizarre fashion lesson from the big-city hipsters.

“The funny thing is that everybody was having proms in Seattle, and the guys had baseball caps and basketball shoes on. I guess that’s the new cool.”

, DataTimes