On Jan. 25, 2014, the Bel Air High School Junior Class enchanted the gymnasium with their 2014 Winter Ball that commenced at 7 P.M. Saturday night.
The night began as Bobcats began to flow into the building in their elegant formal attire, enjoying and admiring the snowy decorations that decorated the walls. The attendees enjoyed the music and dance with their friends. The night was flowing smoothly and it was time to announce the Winter Ball Court.
The court consisted of four categories, a pair for each grade. Freshman could win the Duke/Duchess, sophomores were the Lady/Lord, juniors won the Prince/Princess, and finally the seniors could win the title of the Winter Ball King and Queen. Students could nominate themselves during the week prior to the ball and their classmates then voted for their choice the night of. The results were as follows:
Duke and Duchess: Michael Lupano and Bethany Ingram
Lord and Lady: Mickey Inskeep and Alison Pullen
Prince and Princess: Brian Aiken and Charlotte Andres
King and Queen: Clay Brunbaugh and Bethany Cook.
11th grader Elijah Olsen summed up the Winter Ball in one word, “Yeah, the Ball was pretty magical.”
Around 9:15 P.M., the night took a surprising turn of events when the fire alarm began to sound and hundreds of startled students frantically rushed out of the gym. Mayhem erupted as everyone attempted to retrieve their items they checked at the bag claim. Everyone was safely and efficiently evacuated out of the building and fire trucks began to appear following protocol as students waited in the cold. Many of those who attended the ball who drove themselves decided to end their evening, as there was only about 45 minutes of the dance left. After the building was cleared, the remaining Bobcats entered the gym once more and continued their night. Just minutes later, the fire alarm sounded yet again and the staff declared the dance over 10 minutes early due to the strange malfunctioning fire alarms.
Mrs. Orth, a BAHS English teacher and Winter Ball staff worker said, “It was good that the alarms went off towards the end of the dance because everyone seemed to be having a good time.”
The dance ended early and students returned home. The fire alarm didn’t seem to phase the student’s excitement, as the school was still buzzing about Saturday night on Monday morning. Mr. Komondor made an announcement during homeroom explaining the incident. The first fire alarm sounded due to a sprinkler malfunction in the cafeteria kitchens which immediately sounded the alarm. The second alert was caused due to a technical difficulty in the system.
“The dance was actually really fun. The DJ was good too. The fire alarm was annoying, but there wasn’t that much time in the dance left anyways,” Junior Jacquelyn Cruz explained.
Overall, the Junior Class Winter Ball turned out to be a wonderful night for Bobcats and the following Monday and Tuesday, the fire alarms were tested throughout the day, to prevent a malfunction in the future.