Grad party at long-term care home gives new meaning to 'senior prom'

Michelle Both · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 15, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

It was a prom to remember, and immoderate successful attendance had their memories jogged to a overmuch antithetic time.

A radical of teenagers from Bruce County, Ont., held a seniors' prom successful a semipermanent attraction location successful Southampton, Ont., taking senior residents arsenic their dates. 

There were nary promposals, only dancing, swapping stories and celebrating graduation with a classical 1950s blistery canine luncheon and crystal pick floats. 

"It was specified a positive experience. I deliberation we each enjoyed talking to the seniors truthful much," said Ava Cameron, a Grade 12 pupil astatine Saugeen District Senior School successful Port Elgin, Ont.

"We got to perceive truthful galore stories and conscionable truly spot however overmuch of an interaction it had connected them. They look guardant to this time each year, truthful it was chill to beryllium a portion of," Cameron said. 

When the "senior prom" archetypal launched astatine the attraction location successful 2016, determination were 10 students. This time, 17 teens came out.

"It's good for some sides due to the fact that the young radical get to larn what's happened successful the past and the seniors get to acquisition immoderate of the caller things that are happening," Eileen Wolfe, a chaplain at Southampton Care Centre said.

For Cameron, proceeding stories from the senior she was paired up with was inspiring. 

"It conscionable truly made maine privation to unrecorded my beingness to the fullest and person each these memories for erstwhile I'm older to walk down to my household and to the younger radical that I get to speech to," she said. 

Joan Irving has been surviving astatine the Southampton Care Centre for 2 years, and present serves arsenic president of the residents' council. 

"I can't talk capable astir these students," Irving said. "When you're rather young, your clip is precious. You've got truthful galore things to be to, but erstwhile they came present and mixed with us, and we felt young again, they brought backmost that tone of younker again."

Many of the residents person grandchildren of their ain that they don't ever get to see, particularly successful a societal enactment similar this, she said. 

"The satellite needs much radical similar them," Irving said. 

LISTEN: Senior prom sees younker and semipermanent attraction residents travel unneurotic for a enactment to remember

It was a prom Grade 12 pupil Blake Lemont besides enjoyed, noting that helium hasn't spent a batch of clip successful a attraction homes.

"Our schoolhouse has been putting this connected for a agelong clip now, truthful it's chill to conscionable get a portion of past successful that way, helium said. "I really came crossed a comparative of mine, and it was beauteous bully to catch up with her determination and perceive immoderate stories."

Wolfe said she is inactive proceeding residents talking astir however this twelvemonth whitethorn person been the champion elder prom yet. 

"They were conscionable truthful thrilled to beryllium accepted and recognized for who they are," she said. "I deliberation sometimes you don't recognize however vibrant their lives were, and this gives the students an accidental to find that out."