Prom is a wrap for pair garbed in duct tape

May 08, 2007|Associated Press

MILBRIDGE, Maine -- Cassandra Openshaw and Nick Martin spent nearly a month putting together the colorful gown and tuxedo they wore to the Narraguagus High School senior prom, but they could hardly wait to change their outfits once they arrived there.

After all, it would have been tricky to spend the entire night wrapped in duct tape.

"I want to be able to do things like dance and sit down," said Openshaw, 17, of Milbridge.

The couple used 45 rolls of the sticky, cloth-reinforced tape to make their outfits and accessories.

Absent from the mix was silver-gray, the color most often associated with the tape used for plumbing and heating repairs.

Openshaw and Martin decided to compete in a nationwide contest sponsored by Henkel Consumer Adhesives Inc., marketer of the Duck Tape brand of duct tape.

The couple with the winning outfit receives $6,000 in scholarships, or $3,000 each. Their school also receives $3,000. The contest runs through June 8, with winners chosen on the basis of online voting at the company's website, stuckatprom.com, where entrants' prom photos are posted.