Florence teen’s ‘promposal’ can only be seen from 28,000 feet

Jeremy King, a commercial pilot from Atlanta, couldn’t miss it.

From 28,000 feet above the ground, he could clearly see: “PROM?” plowed into a field just off South Charleston Road as he flew over Darlington.

King was curious.

“Did she say yes?” King said he wondered.

“I did,” said Julianne White, a sophomore at West Florence High School.

It is her boyfriend of seven months, Noah Matthews, a junior at West Florence High School, who went above and beyond with his invitation to attend their schools prom.

In recent years, high school students across the country have gotten creative with ways to pop the question about the prom, dubbing them "promposals."

“I just wanted to be really unique about it,” said Noah. “I asked my dad if we could do it, and he said he would make it happen.”

It took the help of more than a few people to get Julianne’s promposal off the ground.

Noah’s dad, Allen Matthews, borrowed a tractor and field from his friend Richard Howard.

“I thought he was crazy,” Howard said.

Howard first had to get the permission of Dargan Turf Farms, which rents the property.

It took all day to plow the letters, Noah said.

Noah’s mother, Carla Matthews, asked Franklin Gleason, a friend from work who is a pilot, to fly the teen couple over the freshly plowed field one afternoon.

“I told her I had a present for her,” Noah said. He told her they had to fly to her gift.

“She was kind of weirded out,” Noah admitted.

The five-minute flight to the field put Julianne on cloud nine.

“I told her to look down,” Noah said. “Her jaw dropped. She was really excited about it.”

While some high school students are saving hundreds to pay for the ultimate way to ask a date to the prom, Noah’s wasn’t quite so expensive.

“We didn’t spend any money, actually,” Noah said, thanks to everyone’s help.

“I was so surprised,” said Julianne. “I had no idea where we were going. It was a shock.”

Julianne said she is pretty certain her promposal tops all others at West Florence High School this year. She said her friends couldn’t believe it.

“They are jealous,” Julianne said.

Noah has one problem.

“I’m not real sure how I am going to top it next year,” he said.

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Florence teen’s ‘promposal’ can only be seen from 28,000 feet."