THE PROM

One of the perks in attending the Mass at the St. George Albanian Cathedral on East Broadway was attending the coffee hour after the service. It was a chance to socialize with your fellow parishioners. It was there that my cousin George and I were asked by two lovely young girls if we would escort them to their High School Prom at Somerville High. We were flattered to be asked and said yes. I should tell you that chronologically speaking my Cousin George was one year older than I. Although still a teenager he was much older in terms of knowledge in the ways of the world. He lived in the fast lane where I lived a sheltered life, a hermit like existence. He was already driving and doing things I wouldn’t do until years later. I was excited enough in just attending the prom, but that wasn’t enough for George. “We have to go some place special after the prom” So what did he choose…..the Latin Quarter in downtown Boston. The Club once owned by Lou Walters, Barbara Walters father.

Are you kidding! How could we possibly get in? The day of the prom he picked me up and we drove to the Latin Quarter to seek out a waiter that would be working that night. He slipped him $10(a lot of money in the 1950’s) and said we would be arriving later that evening. Would he be so kind as to escort us to a table close to the stage. Now most of the kids going to the prom were wearing traditional tuxedos. That wasn’t good enough for George. We had to be different. We wore light blue matching outfits. So off to the prom we went escorting our dates through the crowd that lined the entrance to the High School Gymnasium. The girls dressed in their lovely gowns and us in our blue tuxedos. It was a fantastic evening but the best was yet to come.

“We have a special treat for you girls” George announced. “It is a surprise” At the Latin Quarter he slipped the valet a couple of bucks to park his car and on cue the waiter appeared to announce “we have your table waiting for you sir” We were seated right at the elevated stage. We had dinner and sipped “ginger ale cocktails” as we saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform her famous strip tease act. We couldn’t have impressed the girls more.

It is funny I barely remember my own prom but the Somerville High School Prom is indelibly etched in my brain