With Homecoming just around the corner, Dallas Lutheran junior Garrett Dunsworth didn’t want to blend in with his friends who typically invite dates via paper signs, decorated food or messages written on cars at school. Jenna Allred is the senior he’s been dating since the beginning of the year, and he wanted her last Homecoming dance to be memorable.
Dunsworth and Allred live near the Sonic at Royal and Audelia, and they often grab drinks there after school. He approached the folks at Lake Highlands Automotive to enlist help with his surprise prom-posal.
“I asked if I could use their marquee, and they helped me come up a message,” Dunsworth told me. “I knew I wanted it to have something to do with a car. They were great.”
This week, he rolled Allred through Sonic’s drive-through after Monday volleyball practice and told her to close her eyes.
“Jenna, It would be so clutch if you would go to HoCo with me. Garrett,” read the marquee.
“We were facing the message when we rounded the corner and came to the drive-thru window,” she said. “I was so surprised. It was creative, and I loved it. I thought it was so funny. We got out and posed for pictures, and people were driving by, honking and waving.”
Lake Highlands Automotive shared the photo on their Facebook page, and others have congratulated the happy couple.
“My friends are surprised I came up with the idea, honestly,” laughed Dunsworth. “I wanted something unique.”
The theme of Lutheran’s Oct. 12 event is “An Evening with the Oscars,” and Allred said the two will get “all fancied up” for the party. They’ll stop for photos first, she said, then have dinner at a restaurant. During the week-long build-up, they’ll go to school dressed in daily themes, like Hollywood and USA – a nice break from their regular school uniforms. Of course, the traditional Texas-sized mum and Friday night football will be part of the fun.
Allred, who plans to major in business and finance next year at either Baylor or SMU, said departing for college is a bittersweet thought at this point.
“For now, I’m avoiding the thought of it,” said Allred. “I want to stay close to friends I love and know.”
Ah. Young hearts.