The peculiar arrival of Sherman Bynum at his prom on Saturday night has stirred up quite a commotion. The audacious junior at Camas High School, situated near the border between Oregon and Washington, made quite a statement by arriving at the Portland Art Museum in an M3A1 Stuart tank, yes you heard it right, a TANK!
This unique idea has been brewing in Bynum’s mind since February when he learned that the school had arranged a special parking lot for students to arrive in style. Being an avid hobbyist of tanks, he started scouting for potential options online. Upon discussing the idea with his friend, senior Sam Tetro, they decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to raise the $1,000 needed to secure a private tank owner to take them to the art museum.
Bynum recounted the experience, “I made some phone calls to a group in Minnesota that rents battle tanks out for you to select for builders and stuff. They were like $20,000, you know, and that’s happening. And so we called the museum in Oregon. They didn’t have anything but they got us in contact with a guy. Talk to the guy. Within about 15 minutes, we had a deal worked out. The price tag is $1,000. And so we decided to turn a GoFundMe by the end of the night. When that GoFundMe is posted, we had about 570 bucks. We’d reached the next goal within the next few days.”
To their surprise, the GoFundMe campaign managed to raise a whopping $1,675, surpassing their initial target. But many were left wondering, is it even legal to arrive at prom in a tank? Bynum was quick to dismiss any doubts and assured, “This act will be perfectly legal. According to all documents provided by the State of Oregon and the information about the tank, we will be safely within road limits and legal to carry this out. We are just looking to have fun and make a scene.”
The trio, accompanied by Bynum’s date Mycah, made quite an entrance at the Portland Art Museum, drawing a lot of attention from onlookers. This bold move will undoubtedly be a cherished memory for Bynum and Tetro when they attend their 50th class reunion in 2073.
