Prom

Crescenta Valley High School’s Prom Plus Committee is hosting its annual Taste of Montrose event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the 2200 block of Honolulu Avenue. More than two dozen restaurants and culinary experts will provide a sampling of their fare. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on Honolulu Avenue. The Taste of Montrose is a major fundraiser for Prom Plus, an after-prom event for Crescenta Valley High School seniors and their guests. Prom Plus was started after a CV senior was murdered at an unsupervised post-prom party in 1991.

All dressed up with nowhere to go. That's how many high school seniors feel when the last song of the night plays at the senior prom. Still looking good and with an abundance of energy, these soon-to-be graduates are not ready to call it a night. And Crescenta Valley High School prom-goers and their guests don't have to. For the past 12 years, Prom Plus has been part of the prom plans of CV seniors and their guests. Held at the Crescenta-Cañada YMCA, Prom Plus is an alternative to unchaperoned parties, offering a supervised post-prom event from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Included with the purchase of a prom ticket, Prom Plus provides a variety of things for guests to do, including laser tag, a full casino with blackjack, poker, craps and roulette, and pool tables.

Saturday afternoon was a flurry of activity as young men and women across the Foothills prepared for the social finale to the school year ? the Crescenta Valley High School senior prom. The prom was held last weekend at the Wallis Annenberg Hall near the California Science Center in Los Angeles. More than 700 prom tickets were sold to the formal event that started in mid-afternoon at the high school gym. But, prior to the formal festivities, Montrose?s Merle Norman was the place to be for finishing touches on the many princesses for a day. Kelly Shaftel, 17, a senior at CV High, was surrounded by family and friends as Merle Norman co-owner Kris Kline applied foundation and eyeliner to the young woman.

Gary Moskowitz SANTA MONICA -- Eighteen-year-old James Williams summed up Hoover High School's 2002 senior prom quite nicely. "They like to get their boogie on, plain and simple," James said. Most of the 492 seniors and guests who attended the big event Saturday at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles spent the night on the dance floor. Two deejays played hip hop, Top 40, reggae, salsa, Armenian music and country, featuring artists like Snoop Doggy Dog, The Beastie Boys, Rob Base, Jennifer Lopez and Usher.

Alecia Foster SOUTHWEST GLENDALE -- It had all the makings of a prom -- from the fancy dinner and formal attire to dance music and corsages. But there was something different about Daily High School's formal Friday night. This time it was o7 theirf7 prom. "We thought it would be fun to do something of our own," said student Paola Pistoia. For at least 15 years -- that anyone at the school can remember -- the students at Daily have had to attend a prom at the school they previously attended if they wanted to go. The experience, however, just wasn't the same, said Student Council Vice President Stefanie Mendoza.

Josh Kleinbaum Most students at Crescenta Valley High School have a vague memory of why Prom Plus exists. "I don't think people care," said Allison Sluk, a senior who will attend Saturday's prom and Prom Plus. "They're like, 'Oh, it's really sad.' But I don't think they realize why parents are so concerned." On June 1, 1991, at an early-morning party in an Anaheim hotel after the prom, Berlyn Cosman was shot in the head by Paul Michael Crowder.

Crescenta Valley High School's Prom Plus committee is posing a question to local gamers: How good are you? The committee is eager to find out and on Saturday, Jan. 6 is hosting a HALO 2 Tournament to see who will be crowned the best in the Crescenta Valley. The event is being held at The Ark at 4409 La Crescenta Ave. and pre-registration and payment of the $15 entry fee is highly recommended. Entry forms are available by contacting Robin Goldsworthy at prrobin@juno.com or calling her at 248-2740 or by contacting Bob Fletcher at 957-4203.

Gary Moskowitz GLENDALE -- By the time she got to her senior prom at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pasadena, half the fun was over for Erin Powell. Powell, 18, was among the roughly 550 seniors who attended Glendale High School's prom May 24. Even though she said she had a great time with her friends, Powell said most of the fun of prom is in the anticipation. Hoover High School's prom Saturday will close the 2002 prom season in Glendale. "The whole fun of it starts at least two months earlier, when you start looking for dresses and making your plans," Powell said.

If you are the parent of a current high school student, you will spend about $250,000 to raise that child to the age of 18, give or take a few thousand depending on family resources, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With prom season imminent, it might be time to increase the budget. The average American family will shell out $1,139 for the big dance in 2013, a 5% increase compared to last year, according to a survey released Wednesday by Visa Inc. If that strikes you as an eye-popping sum, hopefully you don't live in New York or Connecticut.

Carol Cianfrini doesn't remember what she wore to her prom in 1953, but she certainly remembers her date. She and the handsome El Camino College student, John Cianfrini, would marry the following year. “It was just an exciting time,” Carol said. “I was one of the few going to Inglewood High who was engaged and ready to get married in my senior year.” Now, Carol and John - who along with their business, Crys-ti Cleaners, have been a fixture in Glendale's Adam Square neighborhood for 46 years - are working to ensure that another generation of young women can reflect on prom night with fondness.

A man who shot a 17-year-old La Crescenta high school girl to death after her prom night celebration has been granted parole despite opposition from the Orange County district attorney's office. Paul Crowder has been in prison for nearly 20 years for fatally shooting Berlyn Cosman, a high-achieving student who had earned a college basketball scholarship to Missouri Western State University. Crowder was granted parole last year but then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reversed that decision.

The decision to grant parole to a 39-year-old man who in 1991 shot and killed a 17-year-old Crescenta Valley High School student on prom night was met with muted public reaction Thursday. Attempts to reach the family of Berlyn Cosman - who was shot June 1, 1991, as she slept in her room after a prom night party at the Sterling Crown Suites Hotel in Anaheim - were unsuccessful, and community members who've been involved in the safe-prom cause since her death declined to comment on the parole decision, which was issued Wednesday.

Crescenta Valley High School’s Prom Plus Committee is hosting its annual Taste of Montrose event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the 2200 block of Honolulu Avenue. More than two dozen restaurants and culinary experts will provide a sampling of their fare. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on Honolulu Avenue. The Taste of Montrose is a major fundraiser for Prom Plus, an after-prom event for Crescenta Valley High School seniors and their guests. Prom Plus was started after a CV senior was murdered at an unsupervised post-prom party in 1991.

History is a major part of the Crescenta Valley High School Prom Plus annual Holiday Tour of Homes on Saturday. Proceeds support the after-prom party in which participants have myriad activities to share with their classmates, including casino games, a mechanical bull ride, tattoo artists, a magician and palm reader, said Lisa Yeghiayan, a representative of the group organizing the event. The four historical properties on this year's tour are a home owned by Flintridge House interior design business owner James Davis Polk; the newly named Fire House teen center, which once housed the La Crescenta Fire Station; the Richards home; and the Doll home.

The Glendale Educational Foundation is joining with the Glendale Unified School District to present the sixth annual State of the Schools Breakfast at 7 a.m. Oct. 7 at the Edison/Pacific Community Center, 501 S. Pacific Ave., Glendale. Richard Sheehan will be introduced to the community at the breakfast, having taken the helm as the superintendent of Glendale Unified School District on July 1. Featured speakers include Glendale Educational Foundation member, Mia Lee, State Supt.

No day is the same here at The News-Press. When the phone rings or the e-mail pings, it could be just about anyone at the other end. Often people call to suggest stories. Sometimes we follow those suggestions; sometimes we do not. Sometimes people call to with a tip about yet more weirdness in the Crescenta Valley or City Hall. Sometimes they’re right; often they are not. But rarely do I get an e-mail like the one I got recently from Brett Reynolds. Brett, 18, is a senior at Burroughs High School in Burbank, who was struggling with a clever way to ask his girlfriend to the prom.

A recent report found that the economy is showing signs of improvement due to higher consumer spending over the summer, but the trend came too late for Suzanne Aguila. Aguila, who has owned the store Carraz for 25 years, will be closing shop at the end of the year due to decreasing sales. Since this year’s prom season — April and May — sales have dropped 30%, Aguila said. A going-out-of-business sale will run through mid-December, “or until everything is sold,” said the Philippines native.