MacArthur celebrates perfect Homecoming

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It just doesn’t get much better. Perfect weather, vintage muscle cars, beautiful high school boys and girls performing perfectly executed routines … these are the days from which lasting high school memories are made.

MacArthur High School celebrated its Homecoming this past Friday, Sept. 27, in genuine Wantagh style.

The parade kicked off at 5 p.m. from Gardiners Ave School in Levittown, heading south down Gardiners Avenue and led by a bright yellow Chevrolet Camaro and with last year’s Homecoming queen and king, Jennifer Gattus Joseph Gagnon, respectively. Slender, tan and fit, they looked every inch the regal couple as they prepared to hand over their crowns and capes to this years’ successors.

They explained that while the court is selected from among their classmates, the king and queen themselves are chosen by faculty members. Teachers are looking for more than popularity and poise, Gattas explained. “They’re looking for people who are involved in the community, who try to give back.”

Both Gattus and Gagnon said they enjoyed their reign as Homecoming king and queen, but that they were happy and honored to be able to pass it on.

The day and the game were dedicated to the memory of Lorenzo Fernandez, who died in 2014 and is remembered each year by his class of 2020 classmates.

The evening’s proceedings were introduced by the MacArthur marching band, under the direction of Joseph Romano. Their spirited rendition of the National Anthem was movingly interpreted in American Sign Language by Alyssa Shapiro.

Next, senior members of the football team, cheerleading squad and MacEttes were introduced and accompanied down the field by either their mother or father.

Finally, the Homecoming king and Queen were named and crowned: Christopher Frick and Olivia Esposito. The elegant pair were escorted to midfield, where they received their robes, crowns and scepters of office/

After a certain amount of chaos, indispensible to any high school event, the game got underway with the kick-off.

Valley Stream did not make it easy for the Generals, but MacArthur nevertheless managed to prevail, winning with a score of 28-8.