Karen McQueen, 9, spent Saturday night bouncing between the dance floor, the treat table and her mother at the Rhino’s All Ages Music Club.
“They’re on a date,” she said while gesturing to two of her fourth-grade school friends bobbing on the dance floor. “I keep ruining it.”
Rhino’s has held the Chocolate Prom as part of LIFEDesigns’ fundraising Week of Chocolate for about 10 years, director Brad Wilhelm said.
Normally, the club holds events for 13- to 18-year-olds, but Chocolate Prom attracts a far wider age range, Wilhelm said.
“It’s the one night a year where we open it up to everyone,” he said.
“There’s smaller kids and parents, there’s college students out there, grandparents. They’re filling up on chocolate and having a good time.”
Karen is a student at the Project School across the street from Rhino’s All Ages Music Club.
Her mother, Bloomington resident Vicky McQueen, said Karen heard about the prom at school and wanted to give it a go.
“Some of my friends were here, and I love chocolate,” Karen said.
But Vicky, 57, hadn’t expected her daughter’s first dance to cater to a younger age range.
“When we got here, I said, ‘Don’t be surprised if there’s no one here your age,’” Vicky said.
But when they arrived, the two were greeted with a dramatic age range.
There were groups of grade-schoolers dancing on the stage with the DJ and older teens standing in the photo booths.
Parents and guardians lining the walls and couches.
Vicky said the music — a mix of ’70s and ’80s hits like Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” and music from more modern singers like Taylor Swift — reminded her of the dances she attended in high school.
From the $10 to $15 admission fees and the $1 entry for the Prom King and Queen drawings, Wilhelm said the prom would bring in $2,000 to $2,500 toward paying the Youth Center staff and operating costs for the club.
“It’s probably one of our better fundraisers, and it’s fun,” he said. “Little kids and bigger kids normally don’t mingle out there, so it’s good to see.”
Several of the younger children and tweens were the younger siblings of teens who work and learn at Rhino’s Youth Center, Wilhelm said.
Because the nonprofit has been running for 24 years, many of the early “Rhino’s Kids” have had children of their own, he said.
Rhino’s Youth Center helps teenagers create media projects such as radio shows, magazines, videos and art projects during the school week.
Over the weekend, the teens run free all-ages shows in the club, Wilhelm said.
The club rules, painted in white on a wall near the stage, include standards such as “no violent dancing/physically risky behavior,” but also adages like “sing along if so moved,” “laugh at yourself,” and “love your favorite band, but know they will never be as good as Cheap Trick.”
In a college town such as Bloomington, there aren’t many outlets for fun that don’t involve “risky behaviors,” Wilhelm said.
“A kid can feel really lost because there’s not a lot to do if you’re not a college student,” Wilhelm said.
“Being able to provide a place that is safe, but also drug-and-alcohol free, is important.”
