Jolene is a party. The first Jolene was a party in the summer of 1988.  It was the last soiree of the season, to bid farewell to friends heading off to college.  It was also an excuse to dress up in vintage duds and ask our secret crushes on a super swell date.  

Little did we know then that Jolenes would continue for the next ten years.  By year 5 we decided to make invitations and added themes. Every year without fail, at midnight, we would play all the versions of Jolene we could find.  Jolene's took place in a number of different ballrooms around Lincoln Nebraska, but mainly at the blue house on 14th and Garfield.  And then it looked like Jolene was coming to an end when the last Eckersley child moved away from Lincoln in 1998.