It has become a tradition that it rains on Mineola homecoming day. The tradition continued this past Saturday on Mineola High School's 22nd annual homecoming, but the clouds and the sporadic raindrops did little to dampen the Mustang school spirit.

While school spirit usually soars on homecoming day, Mineola High School's varsity football team has given the Mineola faithful something to cheer about. Last year, the team captured the Nassau County Conference IV championship.

No homecoming would be complete without a patented Mineola parade. With the Mineola Marching Band and Rockettes leading the way, a parade proceeded down Jericho Turnpike, Westbury Avenue and Roslyn Road to the Hampton Street Stadium.

This year the theme of Homecoming was "A Salute to Disney." All of the schools got into the Mineola and Disney spirit, from the high school to the middle school to the Cross, Meadow, Hampton and Jackson Avenue Schools. Even the Willis Avenue School with early childhood education director Deborah Shaw and the students marched proudly with the first ever banner for the Willis Avenue School early childhood learning center.

There were some creative floats that would have made Walt Disney proud. Many different aspects of Disney were showcased including "It's a Small World." Many hours went into making the floats and the hard work showed.

Of course, there was the Homecoming Court all decked out on the court's float. Homecoming king this year is Matt Shanahan and queen is Antonia Bortone. The princesses are Jessica Napolitano (junior), Lauren Napolitano (sophomore) and Maryellen Owens (freshman).

Once at the Hampton Street Stadium, it was time to play football. The ceremonial ball toss was done by Bob Miller, who taught driver education and technology at Mineola High School for 30 years.

The good news is that the Mineola offense, led by running back Dan Medlock, were able to score a touchdown in each quarter of the game. The bad news is that the Mustangs surrendered nine fourth quarter points, which led to a 29-27 loss to the Clarke Rams.

The Mustangs took a 14-0 second quarter lead after Medlock rushed for a 4-yard score and quarterback Rich Carter scored from the one-yard line. Peter Averaimo added the extra point on both scores.

But, Clarke answered back with two touchdowns of their own, a 56-yard run and 20-yard reception by Mike Palmer.

Mineola took the lead again when Medlock ran for a 17-yard touchdown. The extra point attempt failed. But Clarke tied the game when Palmer ran for a 72-yard score. Clarke then took a 23-20 lead on a field goal.

But Medlock gave the Mustangs a fourth quarter lead when he ran for his third touchdown of the day, this time a 56-yard score. However, Mineola couldn't hold the lead as the Rams scored the final six points of the game for a 29-27 win.

The Mustangs fell to 1-2 in conference play. But Mineola is still proud of its team and of all the students, faculty and staff members and parents who once again made the 2003 homecoming a success.