Port Jeff Prom Committee Announces New Venue for 2020 Event

With current state mandates and guidelines, Port Jefferson’s prom committee announced it will no longer be putting on the annual, parent-run extravaganza this year. Instead the Prom Committee announced Thursday it would instead be holding an event at a local restaurant.

While tentative plans had the prom going on in August, after the Port Jefferson School District hosts its tentatively scheduled graduation the first weekend of that month. On its Facebook page, the Port Jefferson Prom Committee announced it will be unable to host the traditional prom at the high school or even at the Village Center, where the district is planning its own graduation celebrations.

“This decision is not ours alone — it is based upon guidance from New York State regarding social distancing requirements due to COVID-19,” the original post reads.

On July 16, the committee announced on its Facebook page it would be holding an event at Insignia, a steakhouse and sushi restaurant in Smithtown. The committee wrote it will be able to host all 85 seniors in a socially distanced way over a four-course dinner. The date is set for Aug. 3 from 7 to 10 p.m. Parents should receive an email with additional details and a chance to RSVP.

“We also have some surprises planned for the evening,” the post added.

This is the first year since the tradition started in 1958 that district parents will not be hosting a prom. Normally, members on the committee vote on a theme, then parents and volunteers spend the next 10 months building the sets and fundraising to host the event. Last year’s theme of Royalodeon transformed the high school gym, hallways and bathrooms into a kind of late ’90s and early 2000s wonderland, featuring characters from many children’s cartoons and shows.