Senior gets celebrity treatment at prom

Theresa Goetz with her prom date Chunky and his friend Nick pose for pictures before boarding a limousine for the Old Bridge High School senior prom. OLD BRIDGE — Prom night is always a memorable occasion.

For Theresa Goetz, it was also something of a dream come true, complete with a well-known date in a souped-up limousine, flashing cameras and rolling video, bound for YouTube.

For a time this spring, the Old Bridge High School graduating senior thought she would have to go stag or skip the June 19 prom altogether.

"I thought this guy was going to ask me to prom, then I found out he was going with someone else," Theresa said. "It bothered me that he asked someone else, so I didn't want to be a third wheel with my friends."

Theresa told her mother, Pat, about the situation. Pat drives a school bus part time for Old Bridge, and one day while changing the radio station she heard one of her favorite songs on 92.3 NOW-FM. During the commercial break, she heard the DJ, Chunky, state that he never went to his prom back in high school, and that he would like to take a lucky girl to her senior prom. Pat told Theresa about the contest, and Theresa eagerly entered to win.

Theresa was among about 100 girls in the contest, and slowly that number was whittled to three as the girls provided personal information and parental consent to the radio station. Visitors to the station's website voted on the finalists, and Theresa wound up winning, with 65 percent of the votes.

On the evening of the prom, the jovial radio personality and a friend arrived at Theresa's home in Old Bridge, complete with a decorated limousine and camera crew.

"Believe me, it was a very big suprise, with my name and Chunky's name on the limo," Theresa said. "What a night to remember ... My neighbors and friends made me feel like I was a celebrity."

The two danced a bit at the prom, and Chunky also made the rounds, talking to Theresa's friends, and calling in to the radio for on-air updates with students chiming in.

"It was like a dream," Theresa said of the night as a whole. "It was so, cool and different. I had a great time." Chunky, she added, is "a very nice person."

The prom date is captured on video that can be seen on both YouTube.com and www.923now.com.

Theresa said she is thankful to her family and friends for their support and their votes in the contest. She also thanked Old Bridge Superintendent of Schools Simon Bosco and the Board of Education for allowing Chunky to take her to the prom, though he was older than the maximum age allowed at the prom. She thanked Old Bridge High School Principal James Hickey and Vice Principal Vincent Sasso, retiring staff member Karen Miller, the Marching Band Parents Association, fellow students, patrons at the Race Zone Bar & Grill, Old Bridge Diner employees, patrons of the St. Ambrose bingo hall, and 92.3 NOW-FM.

"You all rock," Theresa said of her supporters. "And last, I want to thank my mom, who made that day happen."

— Brian Donahue