It’s not often in life we get second chances, but just this once, the Yaqan Nukiy School gym served as a portal to go back in time.
On March 29, the Lower Kootenay Band hosted the Second Chance Prom as a do-over for anyone who had a mediocre experience at their own graduation.
“Just about everybody I spoke to didn't have a very good experience at their prom,” said Nasukin Jason Louie. “It usually involved alcohol, either they got kicked out because of the consumption or whoever they wanted to be their plus one declined the invitation.”
After garnering support for the idea on social media, a committee of volunteers came together to set a date and start planning. It was all set in motion before long.
However, even with the overwhelmingly positive response, only five tickets had sold just days before the event. So the committee faced a hard question: postpone or cancel?
“I will admit that I was nervous,” said Louie. “The group wanted to roll the dice and said let's just do it. If it's a small group, then it is what it is.”
Luckily, ticket sales started picking up and the event completely sold out 48 hours before.
In the end, over 200 people of all ages dressed to the nines to rewrite history on the dance floor under the basketball hoops. It was lighthearted fun while being entirely alcohol-free, a deeply personal decision for Louie.
“I grew up in a time when there was a lot of alcoholism, and it was just normalized,” he said.
The night kicked off with three prom stories, including one from Louie’s wife, Angie, and another from the Yaqan Nukiy School principal. Their stories of shared regrets set the tone and underscored why everyone wanted to have this second chance.
A definite highlight for the evening was an impromptu dance-off between Louie and an RCMP officer. In a video posted to his Facebook page, the crowd cleared space and cheered for the friendly battle.
“Back in the day, I had to be intoxicated first before I would get on the dance floor,” Louie said. “I have a lot of philosophies in leadership, and one of them is you cannot ask your people to do something that you, yourself, as a leader, would not do. So I just got out there and led by example.”
Despite some impressive moonwalking from the opposition, Louie said he truly believes in his heart that he won.
LKB Elders were treated to a roped-off "VIE" section, for Very Important Elders, to watch the shenanigans from comfy recliners and love seats, while roller-skating servers delivered mocktails.
In another moving moment, Louie’s five-year-old grandson, who normally doesn’t like noise and large crowds, grabbed his grandma’s hand and hit the dance floor. The DJ randomly played “Kung Fu Fighting” — his favourite song.
“It was a very healing night of the Creston Valley uniting,” said Louie. “Sometimes the Creston Valley can be a tough place to live, just with the dynamics of different politics, different points of view. But in this moment, nobody cared. It was just a group of human beings that were having a lot of fun.”
People from all walks of life attended, including members of OutSpoken — the local 2SLGBTQ+ group.
“They're always welcome for our public events,” Louie said. “We wanted to be inclusive of everybody, and there were just a lot of good feelings.”
Louie said the night also helped address a need he’s heard echoed by LKB members — more activities to simply enjoy each other’s company.
“We've had a lot of rough patches in our history, so we needed to get back to socializing as a community. Everyone was just having fun,” he said.
When asked whether there will be another prom in the future, Louie said it’s definitely being considered.
Thanks were given to DJ Bri-Dog and MC Supaman for entertaining the crowd, Ktunaxa Kinbasket Child and Family Services for serving as mocktail bartenders, Pealow’s for donating ingredients, Boundary BBQ for catering, and Yaqan Nukiy School for bringing the whole vision to life.
