Dinner, dancing, and political power: Cherry Hill’s ‘Golden Age Prom’ harnesses the electoral energy of senior citizens

At the 12th annual Golden Age Prom in Cherry Hill, Shirley Temples were flowing, the buffet line stretched across the room, and seniors — both senior citizens and high school seniors — danced the night away to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

The event, hosted by the Cherry Hill Education Association, brings Cherry Hill’s older residents together for a night of food, dancing, and celebrating the prom king and queen.

“Prom is a very memorable moment for a lot of people, and it makes them feel young again,” said Waleska Batista-Arias, the president of the Cherry Hill Education Association. “Just because the body ages, doesn’t mean you lose your youthful spirit.”

Though celebration is the centerpiece of the Golden Age Prom, the annual event offers Cherry Hill’s teachers union an opportunity to build support for public education among seniors, a powerful, yet sometimes overlooked, voting bloc.

According to Kathy Kiehner, 78, a retired reading specialist who has attended the prom for years, it’s about harnessing “the energy of senior citizens that forgets to get tapped.”

Though the prom has historically been held at one of Cherry Hill’s schools, the education association had to upgrade to the Legacy Club this year to meet rising demand. Even still, they had to turn people away.

Jeanne Kiefner, a retired school nurse, adjunct professor, and longtime Cherry Hill resident, said the prom “makes people healthy,” offering socialization that can be hard to come by in one’s 70s, 80s, and 90s. Many sources did not share their age with the reporter.

As the night went on, attendees enjoyed the buffet — one remarked that there’s nothing seniors love more than free food. They posed in the photo booth and line danced with student volunteers from Cherry Hill’s two high schools.

Seated by the dance floor, Cathy Jenkins, 76, and Emma Waring, 72, said they’ve been friends for longer than they can count. After doing some quick math, the two deduced they had met about 35 years ago while working in the Camden City School District. The retired educators are now involved in the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association, which uplifts Black history education and supports local students.

When the Golden Age Prom announcement drops every year, Waring said she and her friends start calling and texting each other right away. Waring likes that the event is lively and cross-cultural, bringing together seniors from across Cherry Hill’s diverse communities.

“This is something we look forward to,” she said.

The Cherry Hill Education Association hosted the first Golden Age Prom over a decade ago at Kilmer Elementary School to help bring attention to much-needed infrastructure improvements in the district. While teachers and parents understood the district’s dire building needs, many Cherry Hill residents, including seniors who were no longer attached to the schools through their children, did not. In order to pass a bond to pay for the repairs, the education association knew it would have to physically bring voters into the schools.

“The idea was that these people vote, so if you want them supporting anything in the school system, you have to have them be a part of it,” said Kiehner, the former reading specialist.

The first bond referendum failed. But in 2022, a $363 million bond, one of the largest in New Jersey history, passed, allowing the Cherry Hill school district to make improvements to all 19 of its schools. It was the first time in 23 years that Cherry Hill voters approved a school bond.

“Thank you for your support so that we could improve our school facilities for our students and future generations,” Batista-Arias told attendees, an expression of gratitude that was met with roaring applause.

Batista-Arias said the association wanted to continue the intergenerational prom tradition and bring attention to upcoming elections. Candidates for Cherry Hill school board pitched voters from the dance floor, and some even stuck around for the “Cupid Shuffle.”

The Cherry Hill Education Association does not make endorsements in local races, but it is supporting the New Jersey Education Association’s endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill, which Batista-Arias announced to attendees (the Sherrill endorsement also received some applause).

The majority of this year’s prom was funded by the New Jersey Education Association’s PRIDE in Public Education campaign, an effort to build support for public education across New Jersey. The Golden Age Prom is free to attendees.

Emerging from the photo booth in ankle-length, bedazzled dresses, Ann Alfano and Norma Galosi explained that they met just a few months ago at square dancing class and decided to come to prom together. Alfano never went to her own school dances as a teenager, so this prom was her first. When asked how their first hangout outside of dance class was going, they agreed: “Well.”

Joyce Layer, 84, moved to Cherry Hill 41 years ago after getting married. At the time, she knew no one. Line dancing classes, she thought, would be a good way to meet people. Four decades later, she dances on Tuesdays and Fridays, and she showed up to The Legacy Club ready to show off her moves.

“I’m just a person who likes people, who likes to dance,” Layer said.

“It’s a fun night,” she added. “It’s nice to do it for the seniors because so many of us are isolated.”

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.