LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. — The city of Lawrenceburg shut down Main Street Saturday night and transformed it into a “Small Town Soiree” for the Anderson County High School junior and senior prom. 

“Just watching them dance and just have some sense of normalcy for a little while, it was just so, so special," said Heather Adams, a teacher and prom sponsor at the school, who recalled being moved to tears by the event. "It was just really magic, it really was. It was incredible."

Seniors didn’t get a prom last year because of COVID-19, and with restrictions still in place this year, Anderson County Schools Superintendent Sheila Mitchell and others started looking at their options, she said.

"We decided that venue would be probably the most special venue that we could offer our students," Mitchell said. "We asked the mayor if this was something that he would potentially allow and of course he said yes.” 

After a tough year, organizers said they wanted the students to have something memorable. 

"It was the only prom that I’ve ever seen that there were still hundreds of kids dancing in the street when it was time for them to go home and that’s just really something, and they were all so respectful and so appreciative," said Lawrenceburg Mayor Troy Young. 

Law enforcement formed a perimeter around the party and businesses stayed open using alternate entrances, according to organizers. 

“We did the banners along Main, we decorated Main with lighting and everything to make it the most magical night, so they brought in tables and chairs and we turned it into what somebody described as a Hallmark movie," Young said.