A first-ever "Senior Citizen Prom" was held Saturday at the , and similar events are in the works.
"We're planning a senior social every Thursday, with lunch and a different program every month," said Kayla Stoverink, Eureka parks and recreation department's program coordinator. "It's all you can eat for $5, and our next program is on March 17 with a baseball theme."
Livening up things at the prom was a group of teens from Eureka High School's Key Club. "This is just one of the events that we volunteer for," said sophomore Andrea Baumgartner, of Eureka.
Several of the teens have volunteered for other parks' department events, noted Key Club member Orion Guan, a sophomore also from Eureka.
The students listed some of the Key Club's many projects. Vanessa Salomon said club members send cards to U.S. soldiers. "We're having a school supplies drive for Iraqi schoolchildren, too. I like being around old people, so this looked like a good thing to volunteer for, " she said.
"We also volunteer for Adopt a Family and the Open Door Animal Shelter, " said sophomore Kayla Howard.
While waiting for the dinner to begin, the teens enjoyed meeting the seniors in attendance. Eureka resident Ray Candelario told them a good joke and showed them a magic trick with a dollar bill.
During the meal, teens and seniors sat together to socialize. While attendance at the first Senior Citizen Prom wasn't as big as what the parks group had hoped for, city staffers indicated participants had a good time and enjoyed good food and music.
