Homecoming Dance, with a twist-er

September 20, 1986, was Saranac High School's Homecoming football game, and there was a dance the following evening on Saturday. Curt was considered part of the school's athletics division and was expected to participate in the homecoming court. Curt took Rachel, which was the expected thing to do, and Rachel wanted to help get Kevin onto the court, but Kevin was reluctant to bring any more attention to the festivities than was already present. After asking all his friends, he realized that he would either take Rachel up on her offer or go stag, which could raise eyebrows. Rachel’s best friend was dating a boy at the University of Michigan, which was too far to travel for the event, which was a lot like prom.

Kevin escorted Tina Shetland, who was crowned Homecoming Queen. Curt probably would have been homecoming king if he had been a senior; therefore, the crown went to Matt Lourdes.

The next night, on Saturday, September 20, was the dance. Kevin’s dad had a pristine burgundy vintage 1971 Citroën DS21 stored in the garage, which was rarely driven. Kevin drove it with Curt, Rachel, and Tina. Kevin enjoyed making the car move up and down with the push of a button and jokingly raised the car's height just as everyone got in. When they arrived at the school gymnasium for the homecoming dance, Kevin’s friend David Bird took the keys and parked the car for him, just for the thrill of driving it around the parking lot and probably around town during the dance. Kevin asked David if he had noticed a smell, worried the car might be overheating.

“No, it has been in the air since you pulled up, and the light looks really amber to me, so maybe someone is burning something nearby,” said David.

“Okay, cool. If it’s not my dad’s car, I can relax. Thank you, David. Drive it through town if you’d like. Just don’t tell my dad.” Kevin laughed.

Before the homecoming court members entered the dance, they were scheduled for photos. This took about 20 minutes to complete, and the announcements were made. They were all announced by name as they entered the event pair by pair. Because the Homecoming King and Queen were to walk in together, Kevin was paired with Matt’s date, Amanda Ruthers.

“Curt Ryan, accompanied by Rachel Smathers.”

“Wendy Hurling, accompanied by Wes Tilson.”

“Kevin Woodward and Amanda Ruthers.”

“And please warmly welcome your 1986 Homecoming King and Queen: Tina Shetland and Matt Lourdes!”

The announcer stated, with applause and cheers from the crowd.

“Walk Like an Egyptian,” by the Bangles, played when the music came back, and many people were on the dance floor and having a good time right away. With the loud music and nightfall pending, no one noticed it was dark a little earlier than usual. Everyone was having too much fun to see much else. It was now 5:40 pm and dark. Mrs. Sparks, a teacher and dance chaperone, went outside and realized that the clouds were ominous. A police officer drove up to her on the curb.

“Hi, Charlie. Are we expecting bad weather? I have a gym full of well-dressed and oblivious teenagers in there.” She said.

“That’s what I was driving over here to tell you. There’s a tornado watch, but you know how rare those are. I think we had 5 in all of last year for the whole state.”

“Oh gosh, yeah. Surely that’s not a real concern. I’d turn on a radio but wouldn’t hear it in there.” Said Mrs. Sparks.

“Tell you what, I’ll tell central that I’m camping out in the lobby so we have a radio there as a precaution. Honestly, I just want some of that fudge RuthAnn brought.” Said Officer Charlie.

About an hour passed, and Kevin and Curt had snuck off to a quiet corner, breaking the rules posted for the dance. They attempted to go outside, but it was now raining, so they went into a hallway to see if there was an unlocked room. They didn’t find one but could see into one through a glass window and see through to outside, where it looked like it was snowing, but they realized that the drumming sound they thought was from the music was hail. A few seconds later, they heard the music stop and the announcement.

“I’m sorry to stop the music, but we are under a tornado warning. Could I get everyone to the staircase and the underground classrooms, please? Do not run and be orderly. Mr. Thames is already down there unlocking the main center room. Leave everything, please. Thank you.” Said Mrs. Sparks.

“You go ahead,” said Officer Charlie. “I'll need to be the last one upstairs and will do a final sweep.”

David was having a great time in the Citroen and drove to his friend’s farm on the other side of Bluewater Hwy. As the storm approached, he saw the funnel from the hill heading straight towards the village. There wasn't anything he could do except protect the car. They were far enough away that the debris wasn’t that bad, but hail could come any time, so his friend let him drive the Citroën into the barn, and they headed back inside to take shelter.

Kevin and Curt were in a tough spot because if they crossed over to go down the stairs, it could be dangerous, and Officer Charlie would also spot them. They found a supply closet and barricaded themselves in. Fortunately, Kevin had experience with tornadoes in Georgia, so he had a better idea than Curt of what to expect. They were on a middle floor, a half floor below the street level, had several rooms on each side of them, and there were no windows. Kevin thought this was as safe as they could be, without being fully underground. He thought the likelihood of a direct hit was low, so their chances were good.

Curt was visibly upset. Kevin looked for sharp objects in the closet, fearing the power might go out before he saw everything. The last thing he wanted was a lot of sharp things flying around in a small space. The worst things he could find that could cause damage were a metal squeegee and a putty knife, so he slid them under the shelving unit and moved heavy objects in front of the shelving. He got on the floor with Curt and told him to hold onto him tightly. Put your hands on the back of my neck, and I’ll do the same for you.

The wind had become so loud that it was almost easy to pretend they were on a train, so Kevin told Curt, “That sound is us on an expensive train, on vacation overseas. There’s all that beauty out the windows. We are seeing the countryside and a whole lot of cows, Curt. Everything is so green, and we are having a great time in the dinner car, having coffee after dinner…” and they heard glass break. It was probably in that classroom that they tried to get into. They heard several things hit the door. Kevin was waiting to listen to the roof come off. He knew that had to be next, but he didn’t say anything to Curt, who probably couldn’t hear him anyway. With his hands around the back of Curt's neck, Kevin covered Curt’s ears with his forearms because he knew the pressure change could alarm Curt when his ears registered the change and would make popping sounds. It wouldn’t help, but at least it would be less noticeable.

The lights went out, and it felt like everything went silent immediately for Kevin.

Kevin felt like he was awake, but he couldn’t see anything.

“Kevin. Please talk to me,” Curt said.

“Why can’t I see you?” asked Kevin.

“Because the power is off and we are in a dark room. Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay. Are you hurt?” asked Curt.

“I’m not sure. I think I'm fine.” Kevin said.

The room sound was different after the storm. Probably things had fallen around them, so the sound was closer.

“I’m going to try to find the door,” Curt said.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have a flashlight,” Kevin said, a little delirious.

“I found it,” Curt said as he got the door partially open and some decent light into the room.

There was very little on the other side of the door. Even the wall to the classroom they had been looking in earlier was gone. Insulation hung from above and was blowing in the wind. Everything smelled ionic, like an electrical charge was still in the air, Kevin guessed. They heard people outside.

“I see someone! Hey! Are you okay? Don’t move. We will come in to help you,” said the female voice.

When they got to Curt, they assessed him, and he was fine. Kevin was more banged up and had a possible concussion, but he seemed okay. There were so many parents outside, despite the drizzle still coming down, and you could see the debris high in the air moving to the east towards Portland. Their classmates came out from downstairs, and they were all perfectly fine, just shaken up. Sarah went to Kevin and Curt to check on them, as did Rachel and Tina. Everyone was so relieved that everyone was okay.

The northwest corner of the gym was gone entirely, as if the funnel had clipped it and taken it with it, leaving everything else intact. The building's safety engineering did its job. They were all very fortunate that it wasn’t a direct hit. Later, they learned that it was an F3 tornado that caused 2.5 million dollars in damage and killed 10 people in its path.

Sarah hugged Curt, and he said, “Kevin saved me in there. He knew what to do, and he took the impact.”

Sarah listened intently to Curt and said, “...because he loves you, just like he told you he did on New Year's Eve. He’s going to be okay. This was a close call, though.”

Charles Woodward drove up and rushed to Kevin. Awkwardly side-hugging him.

“Ow, Dad,” Kevin said, slightly laughing. He knew his dad didn’t mean to hurt him, but everything hurt at the moment.

“Are you ok?” Charles asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I think something fell on me and knocked me out.” Panic set in with Kevin. “The car. Oh no“….

“I’m not concerned about the car right now.” Charles turned to one of the medics. “Hey, is he okay? Can he go home?”

“He’s going to be fine. He just got a nasty bump and should probably not go to sleep for a while. Try to keep him talking if you can, for at least the next 4 -6 hours, said the medic, and take him to the hospital if he shows any slurring or other odd symptoms."

“Where is Curt? Maybe he can help,” asked his dad.

“Oh, he can,” said Kevin in a slightly inappropriate and delirious way. “He’s over there talking to Sarah.”

Charles pulled out a $100 bill, folded it, and put it in the medic's hand, saying, “Thank you.”

“Sir, I can’t…” the medic said as Charles walked away and ignored her.

Charles found Curt, and after finding out he was okay, told him what the medic said and asked if he could spend the night and help watch him.

Curt looked at Sarah and then back at Charles, saying, “Yeah, I just need to tell my parents where I am.”

“I’ll take care of it. Are they here?” Charles asked. Curt directed them that they were talking to school officials, and Curt watched him “tell” his parents that he would be helping Kevin through the night. He seemed nice about it from the distance Curt and Sarah were observing.

Charles walked away to collect his son, gave Curt a thumbs-up, and Curt looked at Sarah. They both shrugged exaggeratedly, and as Curt walked away towards Kevin, Sarah crossed her arms and said sarcastically, “Humpht. Imagine that. Mr. Woodward got his way.”

Charles stopped at Sherri’s and got a pizza for the two. Strangely, they weren’t affected by the storm, despite being only half a mile away. They didn’t even lose power. It would be a long night, but it wouldn't really be Charles Woodward's problem. He assigned that to Curt, and everyone was totally okay with that.