It was a beautiful, crisp fall day recently when over 400 people turned out in support of Carey's annual Homecoming Parade, just one small part of the school's Homecoming Saturday festivities, which started with a pancake breakfast provided free by the Carey Dads' Club in Dining Hall South.

Leading the homecoming parade was the local VFW. Other groups that marched in the parade were the ladies' auxiliary, many local politicians, the Carey Alumni Association, the Carey PTSA, the Carey Dads' Club, and the school's award-winning SADD chapter. Leading the extraordinary student turnout was Carey's outstanding color guard, marching band and the Pirettes. Also in attendance were last year's homecoming king and queen, Justin Cohen and Teanna DiMicco.

This year's float theme was "Famous Cities." The colorful displays made people feel as though they were on a worldwide vacation. The first stop on the vacation list was the lost city of Atlantis as represented by the class of 2005. Under the direction of Carey social studies teacher Mark Ferris, they made parade viewers feel like they were part of the underwater world because of their vivid banner depicting underwater life. This banner displayed mermaids, fish and an underwater city scene. The next stop on the journey was every child's favorite - Disney World. The class of 2004 wore Mickey Mouse hats and held up signs with all the Disney characters like Goofy, Donald and Pluto on them. Under the direction of social studies teacher Fran Schnelly, the eighth grade truly made viewers feel like kids again.

Moving from the Magical World of Disney, the class of 2003 brought all to the relaxed islands of Hawaii. Their float was decked out with a huge volcano, palm trees, coconuts and of course hula dancers. Out in front of the tropical float were freshman court members Ciro Cesarano and Sabrina Widom. After relaxing in Hawaii, the scene moved onto the city that never sleeps - New York. The sophomore class of 2002 cleverly recreated a scene from the movie King Kong showing the Empire State Building. One student dressed as King Kong in a gorilla suit to complete the recreation. Their advisor science teacher Ms. Stephanie Sellers, got so into it she volunteered to wear an aviator's outfit. Heather Ryan and Bobby Cavaliere represented the sophomore members of the court.

After NYC, it wasn't long before the junior class of 2001 brought all to the nation's capital. Their float showed a towering Washington Monument with the Capitol building painted as a background.

On the way to Paris, which was the next stop, viewers got to see the 10 Homecoming Court senior finalists parade down Nassau Blvd. in convertibles: Bryan Baebler, Lauren Anania, Melissa Ferraro, Frank LaRosa, Kevin Mille, Pam Lombardi, Caroline Gallagher, James Cano, Jackie Aquilina and Lucio Cervini. Each would have to wait until half-time of the football game to see if they had won. Since half-time was a long time away, they eased their nerves grooving to the synchronized radio stations playing in each of the cars. At Paris, France, the class of 2000 showed us the Eiffel Tower with some members of the senior class inside the tower.

Upon returning to Carey from this "vacation", the school was anxious to find out how the Carey varsity boys soccer team was doing in their play-off game against Seaford, a game that began at 10 a.m. Unfortunately, the squad lost a grueling game in an overtime, nail-biting shoot-out, making the final score Seaford 2, Carey 1. If it wasn't for tremendous goaltending by goalie Andy Concilio and a good team effort on the field, the Seahawks wouldn't have even made it to the playoffs. Coach Chris Romano deserves a lot of credit for the team doing so well. He worked his team hard, but it paid off. Last year, the team's success was rewarded when they moved up two conferences, quite an accomplishment.

As soon as the soccer game wrapped up, preparations for the football game began. Cheerleaders decorated the stands with festive orange and black streamers and Skipper the Seahawk (senior Loretta Kuo) could be seen dancing around getting the crowd pumped up. Before the game began, all the seniors on football, Pirettes and varsity cheerleading received red roses from the Dads' Club in a moving ceremony. The boys on football walked down a corridor made up of the underclass players who clapped rhythmically. As they walked, hand-in-hand with their parents and siblings, a senior cheerleader met them halfway with their rose.

Next it was on to the football game against the South Side Cyclones. The first touchdown of the game was scored by junior Matt Corritone. Senior halfback Sal Monastero ran for 80 yards to make a touchdown. Corritone scored another touchdown which helped widen the lead as the first half drew to a close. As of half time, the score was 15-7. This showed that Carey refused to be beaten during their homecoming.

Next was the half-time show. The school marching band got the crowd grooving to the sounds of the '60s. Featured during the marching band's performance were the Pirettes, who blew the crowd away with their precise kicks and incredible synchronization. When they were done, each of the floats was driven around the track one last time for all to see. Then the ninth, 10th and junior court members lined up on the field. Finally the nervous senior homecoming king and queen finalists made their way to the field. Science teacher Carl Unger, who served as emcee for this portion of the festivities, congratulated all the finalists on being such fine young adults. After much suspense, Lauren Anania and Lucio Cervini were announced as the runners-up. Mr. Unger stalled, joking that he had lost the paper with the winners, then finally gave in and announced the homecoming king and queen. James Cano, wearing his unforgettable green suit, was crowned king and the beautiful Jackie Aquilina was crowned queen. The crowd went wild as the two took their victory lap around the track in one of the convertibles.

It was time to get back to the game. Sal Monastero got yet another touchdown in the fourth quarter, making the final score Carey 28, South Side 14. Throughout the game, quarterback Bryan Baebler completed five out of six passes for 133 yards and one touchdown. Senior linebacker Matt Daddino made 11 tackles and junior linebacker Phil Musmacker had nine tackles in total to lead the defense.

This was truly a perfect way to end the long day, which had begun for most eight hours before. However, all would agree that it was a day worth the effort.