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For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

For the second year in a row, HHS students enjoyed a prom hosted by Helena Hollow in lieu of the school not holding an official event. (For the Reporter / Jeremy Raines)

By NATHAN HOWELL | Staff Writer

HELENA – For the second year in a row, Helena High School seniors and juniors gathered at Helena Hollow for a special night making memories that will last their whole lives on April 10.

HHS was unable to host the prom for their students due to the ongoing pandemic, so Helena Hollow stepped in to provide a safe alternative for students with their “Fireside Fairytale” prom event.

According to Helena Hollow owner Amy Griffin, the event was a success. She expressed that she was incredibly grateful to be able to give students this opportunity so that they would not have to miss out one of the most memorable events for most students.

Leading up to the prom there had been bad weather in the area, luckily this cleared up to make for a great night for the students who attended.

“The night was lovely,” Griffin said. “Thankfully the rain let up by noon on Saturday, so we rented a large industrial sized blower and tried our best to blow rain out of the wettest spots on the grass and rented an event tent for more covered space just to cover our bases.”

Helena Hollow made 360 tickets available for the event, which is the maximum number of people that they felt comfortable having in the area at any time. The event ended up being so popular that they ended up selling all of those, and had more people asking even after that.

“We sold tickets from Feb.  5 until March 20 and then did an encore sale of 50 more a couple of days later. The encore tickets sold out in four minutes,” Griffin said.

More importantly, the HHS students seemed to really enjoy themselves as they spent the night dancing away in the party barn. All of the students showed up in their best gowns and suits as they prepared for a night that they will likely remember for the rest of their lives.

There were games of corn hole for guests to play, catering provided by the newly opened Chick-fil-A and tons of decorative scenery where students could take selfies and chat while enjoying each other’s company.

With so many events being canceled over the last year, it was clear that the HHS students were incredibly grateful to be able to have a normal night and celebrate one of the most important high school traditions.

“The kids seemed to have a blast and all in all we feel like it went over well,” Griffin said. “They have missed out on so many traditional high school memories due to COVID, so it feels amazing to have a venue that is large enough to host these kids and provide them with an experience they otherwise would never receive.”

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