The Land That Time Forgot

Students of Turner County High School started what they hope will become a new tradition: Black and white students attended the prom together for the first time on Saturday.

"Whites always come to this one and blacks always go to this one," said Lacey Adkinson, a 14-year-old freshman at the school in rural Ashburn, Georgia. "It's always been a tradition since my daddy was in school to have the segregated ones, and this year we're finally getting to try something new," she said

"There was not anybody that I can remember that was black," she said. "The white people have theirs, and the black people have theirs. It's nothing racial at all." (???)

But this year's upperclassmen -- 213 students total --voted to have just one official prom. "It's been a dream of all of ours," Senior Class President James Hall said.

The theme of the first official prom: Breakaway.

But not everyone in the town of 4,400, famous for its peanuts and Fire Ant Festival, was breaking with the past; the "white prom" still went on last week.

"We did everything like a regular prom just because we had already booked it," said, Cheryl Nichols, 18, who attended the dance.

Some have asked, “Why can't you come?' and they're like, 'My mommy and daddy -- they don't agree with being with the colored people,' which I think is crazy.”

One other tradition ended this year -- having two separate homecoming queens.

"You pick the homecoming queen for their personalities and being a role model," explained Roshunda Pierce, 16, as she waited to get her nails done for prom.

Aneisha Gipson, who was crowned prom queen, said the night could not have been better, "Amazing. It was absolutely amazing. It was perfect."