While The Night of the Stars evening seems a long way off and Thanksgiving is still a week away, Phillip Ocheltree, ?04, is already decking the halls with boughs of Holly.

As Holly Deniston, ?04, was sitting in Marc Ferguson’s French II class during fourth period on Nov. 14, Ocheltree made his way from English II class to ask her to the Night of The Stars formal movie night.

Not only did Ocheltree ask Deniston to the formal, he created a shirt, which superimposed her picture and the question: “Holly, will you go to the Night of The Stars with me?” However, his plan nearly went awry when Ferguson almost foiled his plan.

Ferguson stopped Ocheltree at the classroom doors and nearly prevented him from entering. However as he explained his quest, Ocheltree persuaded the French teacher to go ahead with his unique plan.

Walking through the classroom, Ocheltree approached Deniston and unbuttoned his outer shirt revealing the custom t-shirt.

“I need to get something off my chest,” Ocheltree said smiling from ear to ear while his face blushed.

Deniston nodded her head yes while hiding behind her French text.

“I was definitely surprised,” Deniston said, “but it was ?rad’ the way he asked. Phillip’s my buddy and I know the night will be super. I appreciated Mr. Mac and Ferg. for not being upset when their classes were interrupted.”

Ocheltree came up with the idea at home when talking to his mom. He said the guys who printed the shirt at Kinko’s loved the idea.

“I figured since she was the sophomore princess, I had to ask her early or risk someone asking her first,” Ocheltree said.

However, rumor has it according to Brandon Nimon, ?03, that Ocheltree was not the first to secure a date for the Night of the Stars.

“I heard that Alec Kneefel, ?05, has already asked his date a month ago because he thought the formal night was in December,” Nimon said. “So Phillip wasn’t the first one to get a date.”

The Night of The Stars formal night is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2002, and will feature student produced movies, dinner and awards.