Oklahoma school ends dancing ban with first prom

Friday, April 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Weleetka-AP) -- It wasn't until the boys started arriving in tuxedos tonight that Debbie Puckett finally realized that the 85-year ban on dancing at Graham High School was going to end.

Although her 1971 graduating class missed out on a prom, Puckett's 17-year-old daughter, Melissa, won't.

It was Melissa and two friends who started a petition to end the ban. The entire 60-student body signed it. Faculty and local clergy
approved, and Graham Superintendent Dusty Chancey even located the original deed, which said there was no ban after all.

Just like any prom, there were still the occasional mishaps --
Melissa's date showed up late. Her new shoes were stiff and it was hard to put on jewelry over long fingernails.

In the end, it all came together just like the prom's theme, "A Dream for Us."