Annual Believe In Tomorrow Prom Night Sat. at Seacrets

By Jack Chavez Staff Writer

(Feb. 3, 2023) The annual Believe In Tomorrow Prom Night returns to Seacrets on Saturday and this year it’ll be featuring its biggest prom court to date.

Supporters of the cause can donate to any of the 33 different participants, most of whom are contestants from previous years.

“Instead of having individuals run this year — we always go out and get new people — we decided this year we’d invite back all previous and do kings versus queens,” said Believe in Tomorrow program coordinator Wayne Littleton.

“Everyone’s kind of working together on the female and male side. It’s been pretty interesting.”

This year’s theme is “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” an easy transition from last year’s 1980s theme.

“It’s amazing what people are going to wear, it makes it a lot of fun,” Littleton said. “It’s such a great event; we don’t change much.”

“Our original goal was to break the record (for money raised) — the previous high was $185,000.”

The prom season, which started last fall, kicked off a little later than usual, around late October or early November, Littleton said. It started slowly because of the holidays, but it picked up plenty of steam in January.

“Month of January, everything is taking off,” Littleton said. “They all have a giving page and some of them have done extremely well on their giving page. It’s a group effort and I’m very proud of all of them. They’re wonderful, hard-working people. It should be a great evening.”

There were a few favorite events back this year by the prom court par-

Prom Court

Rush Stehley

Jason Gulshen

Stephen Jacobs

DJ Magellan

Daniel Shirk

David Neith

Frankie Schmidt

Danny Robinson

Justin Acita

Marc Custido

Courtney Blackford

Lindsay Candeloro

Jackie Siej c

Jill Ferrante

Jessica Jersey

Maria McEvoy

Patricia Shaffer ticipants during the fundraising process. Jessica Jersey had “Casino Night” at Ocean Downs. Courtney Blackford helmed the mac and cheese dinner at the Residence Inn last Saturday, where “Breakfast With Santa” also occurred. The team of Jeremy and Gavin Brink and Sami Glaeser had their annual “Tatts and Tinis” event, raising money for tattoo sessions in exchange.

“All these events have been started and someone takes them over and makes them better,” Littleton said, pointing out that around 180 people attended Blackford’s event.

“That’s what’s worked really well with (prom). Events like ‘Tatts and Tinis’ get stronger and are passed down to other people. Instead of you sitting there trying to create these events we give you something and you put your own spin on it.”

The prom itself will include the display of gold-record-shaped plaques for the prom court participants. Afterward, they’ll be able to take home their memento.”

This will also be the last Prom Night for Littleton, who is retiring in March. He’s been involved in the annual fundraising event for 20 years.

“I wanted to go out with a bang, make it fun and I want everyone to have a good time,” Littleton said. “I’m appreciative of all the members and their hard work.”

Prom Night kicks off at 7 p.m. at Seacrets on Saturday. The evening will include a live performance by musical act Full Circle. Attendees are encouraged to dress like a “total rock star” or “their favorite musician,” according to an event flyer.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $40;at https://believeintomorrow.org/promnight or for $45 at the door.

Tanya Knott

Shelley Leach

Stefanie Lundmark

Erica Aburn

Sam Glaeser and Jeremy and Gavin Brink

Beth Scaniffe

Brittney Acita

April Brilliant

Ashley Weaver

Roseann Zimmerman

EJ Foxx

Christina Fohner

Julie Wagner

Jean Taylor

Todd Dundore

Cody Bentzel