Manhasset residents, students and alumni lined Plandome Road on Saturday to take in this year’s homecoming parade in advance of the varsity football team’s game against Bethpage High School.
At the front of the parade, the Manhasset High School marching band, cheerleaders and throngs of students armed with confetti and silly string led the crowd to the high school, while students from 9th-12th grades brought up the rear in new and classic cars decorated in the school’s navy blue and orange colors.
“We had an outstanding spirit week,” said Manhasset High School principal Dean Schlanger. “The student body participated in a lot of fun events. We had a great spirit morning, outstanding pep rally and a well attended parade and football game.”
Even though Manhasset fans filled the stands to capacity to cheer on their Indians, the football team lost 38-0 to Bethpage.
But the loss did not deter the high spirits of members of the Class of 1963, in attendance celebrating their 50th high school reunion.
“Manhasset is such a special place, it’s always good to come home,” said Dudley Patten-Goettelman, co-chair of the class of 1963 reunion.
Pat Burh-Kenny, another reunion co-chair, said he was looking forward to “singing ‘My Country Tis of Thee’ followed by ‘O Stately Tower of Manhasset,’ because that’s what we did when we lived here.”
“It was a great place to grow up and come back to raise my kids,” Buhr-Kenny said.
Schlanger said that he took the alumni on a tour of the high school on Saturday morning. He said that each year his contact information gets passed down from class to class so he can embrace each class reunion.
“It’s a nice community event that I think is representative of Manhasset and the wonderful traditions that are part of this community,” Schlanger said.
