As part of their efforts to promote community involvement and socialization, members of the Unaka High School Key Club are hosting a special event this weekend to help local senior citizens have an enjoyable night out and make some memories.

The Key Club will host “The Harvest Ball,” a prom event for senior citizens, on Saturday, Sept. 23, from 6-9 p.m. at the Elizabethton Senior Center. The event is free and open to all community members age 55 and older.

“We wanted to do something special for the senior citizens in our community,” said Kayla Clawson, the Key Club’s faculty adviser at Unaka High. “It allows them to have a prom experience which some of them may not have had because they weren’t able to attend a prom in school.”

The Key Club wrote a grant requesting $800 to host the event to the Youth Opportunities Fund through Key Club International. Clawson said the Club was awarded the grant in the full amount.

Clawson said she feels the event will benefit not only the seniors but her students as well.

“The social interaction is important for the teenagers as well as the senior citizens,” she said, adding it will help both groups to engage with not only their peers but other members of the community as well.

The event hopes to capture the full prom experience. Chic-fil-A and City Market are providing food for the Harvest Ball. Charlotte’s Florals will be providing some floral arrangements for the event. A band from East Tennessee State University will be performing for the entertainment.

“We are going to have a photo booth, and they will get a take-home photo that night,” Clawson said.

And, like any other prom, the event will have a special theme. The Club members selected “The Harvest Ball” as the theme for the event.

No reservations are required to attend the event.