On January 22nd the high school students of Cannon Falls were able to have their first formal dance since COVID-19 hit. The students, once walking into the atrium, were truly enveloped in a winter wonderland. This year’s winter formal had a theme of the snowball. Student Council members strung lights around the stairwells, the arches were draped with lights all around. There were tufts of “snow” being illuminated and snowflakes placed all throughout the atrium. All students were in amazement when stepping foot into their first formal back. All of the high schoolers in attendance were dressed in their best for this year’s formal. Girls were dressed in charming dresses while boys were buttoned up in their best shirts. The songs played had a lot of throwbacks that reminded students of times before COVID. The Student Council sent out a google form for song requests from the student body, so the students were able to have an input on which songs were played. There were TikTok songs that people had fun dancing to and the DJ threw in a handful of slow songs.

 Kalee Anderson, a junior, shared her thoughts about her first formal since COVID hit. “It was fun and helped me rediscover old songs that I forgot about.” Her account of the night was very positive and enjoyed being able to have another highschool formal. 

Madysen King, a junior, had a bit of a different experience at the dance. She says “It was weird that they were saying we had to wear masks and then at the last minute decided against it. Our last formal was freshman year and it seemed like it had a lot more hype around it and a lot more people were at the formal freshman year.” She remembered the winter formal as being a bit of a bigger deal when all of us were two years younger. While she still had fun the turnout of people seemed a little underwhelming for all those in attendance.

All in all, the dance did have a smaller turnout this year but everyone had a night full of bliss. Dancing to the songs brought students together and helped to provide a sense of normalcy in the everchanging post-pandemic life everyone is  living. Most students recall the night with fondness, but of course it wasn’t perfect. But the seniors this year got one last winter formal to remember with fondness.