Seniors ready for a night to remember

Click here to see many more photos from Clarke pre-prom.

On a sweltering Thursday afternoon, after months of planning and hours of primping, hundreds of W.T. Clarke seniors and their dates flooded the home of Demi Shanahan, whose parents gratuitously opened their residents for a glamorous pre-prom shindig.

Sharon Shanahan said that her son, Justin, was preparing for junior prom four years ago and since that time, she has invited everyone over to take pictures and nosh on snacks before heading out for a memorable evening.

“We don’t want anyone to be left out,” Sharon said. “Now everyone has a place to have pictures taken.”

With parents, sibling and friends snapping shots of the gorgeously dressed young couples, who posed around the pool, in lush green settings and near limos, everyone continued to smile brightly despite the intense sun-shining rays that elevated temperature into the 90s.

Each year, fashionable trends emerge and this season featured girls in long, flowing dresses and many adorned in neutral, blue and floral hues.

Demi, who will attend the University of Michigan, helped organize the prom – held at the Huntington Harbor Club – and was escorted by longtime friend, Ben King, who was accepted at the University of Virginia.

Among the hundreds of other partygoers was Emily Ramon who walked hand-in-hand with boyfriend Ridwan Rahman, attending City College and Farmingdale respectively, and twin sisters Nicole and Michelle Hertzberg.
Nicole was accompanied by her two-year boyfriend Luke Sparaccio, a former Clarke graduate and student at SUNY Cortland, while Michelle invited new beau Nick Catrone, of Port Washington. Michelle and Catrone recently met at Binghamton University where they will both live as students in the fall.

After properly hydrating before the big night and taking hundreds of photos with friends and dates, the students were ready for a magical evening and piled into limos and luxury rental cars.

With a few days to spare before graduation, many seniors said they were headed to the Hamptons, New York City or a quick rendezvous upstate before dawning their caps and gowns.