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Oct. 18 - a true 'Homecoming'
(by Kathryn A. Burger - October 13, 2008)
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Photo Courtesy Of Holly Desimone
Dolly Lewis, left, and Bernice Misley are in charge of the alumni portion of the Homecoming parade in
Park Ridge . Homecoming this year is dedicated to the district’s 200th anniversary. They are each wearing their son’s football jersey from their days on the Owls team in the 1970s. The women encourage all alumni to participate in the parade and/or the group photo that will be taken in front of the high school at about noon, on Saturday, Oct. 18.
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On Saturday, Oct. 18, the Park Ridge Owls football team will host Cresskill. The game starts at 1:30 p.m. but the Homecoming festivities start earlier. And the Park Ridge High School Class of 1948 is getting started even earlier – the night before at an informal gathering at a local pub.
The school district is celebrating its 200th anniversary and that milestone has inspired a dedicated group of volunteers to make Homecoming especially meaningful this year.
Anyone who has attended a Park Ridge public school is invited to participate in the parade that will step off from
East
Brook
Elementary School at 11 a.m. Those who will be marching are invited to a continental breakfast at the school that will be available at 9:30 a.m. Those who would like to go the breakfast must e-mail Holly Misely DeSimone at hbdesimone@aim.com or Heather Misely Nicolas at hnic2627@yahoo.com to confirm.
Two women who have plenty of experience planning Homecoming parades are Dolly Lewis and Bernice Misley. Misely was president of Parents and Educators in Partnership – PEP – a sort of PTA and she and Lewis, a Park Ridge High alumnus herself, both had sons on the football team in the 1970s and were in charge of planning the Homecoming parades. They are organizing the alumni portion of the parade this year and encourage all alumni to participate.
The Class of 1948 will have their own contingent in the parade and will also be among the alumni posing for a group photo of any and all alumni who would care to be in it. Parade participation is not a prerequisite. The plan is to take the photo in front of the high school at about noon.
The Class of 1948 reunion begins at Sean O’Casey’s Pub at the Park Ridge Marriott on Friday at 7 p.m. After the Homecoming festivities and football game, the group will reconvene at the Marriott Courtyard on Chestnut Ridge Road in Montvale for dinner at 7 p.m. Call 201-391-4521 to make a reservation. The group will wind up their weekend with brunch at 10 a.m., also at the Marriott Courtyard.
This year’s Homecoming has also been enhanced by the resurgent school spirit that the Park Ridge High School Student Council has been building since September. This group of students has planned and carried out a number of spirit-building activities and the response from the students, teachers and administrators – and parents – has been very positive. The ongoing “Color War” being “waged” among the Classes of 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009 has done more to raise school spirit than any other activity so far. One teacher commented that he hadn’t seen so much school spirit since coming to the district nearly 20 years ago.
Homecoming in
Park Ridge this Saturday will have a resonance that transcends the norm, as the district approaches the beginning of its third century.
Information about Homecoming and the 200th anniversary can be found at www.prhs200.org.
Kathryn A. Burger’s e-mail address is burger@northjersey.com.
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