As hard as it is for me to believe, this will be my 22nd Homecoming weekend at North Shore Country Day School. I am not sure when the first Homecoming weekend for our school was but if it was in the fall of 1919 (the year the school was founded), this is the schools 96th Homecoming. For me that means, I have been part of about a quarter of the Homecoming weekends the school has ever had -- 23% to be accurate.
I hope I will make it to the 100th Homecoming as Athletic Director because that will mean it will be my 26th Homecoming at North Shore and I like the ring of the fact that I have been part of over a quarter of our schools Homecomings.
In my tenure at the school, Homecoming weekend has gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. I like to say it is the best -- or second best -- weekend of the year. The only weekend that might rival it is graduation weekend. Homecoming weekend, though, incorporates all three divisions as even the JKers are cheering and saying GO Raiders! at the Pep Rally.
Here are my top 10 annual moments about Homecoming weekend that I love.
My favorite moment of the Pep Rally is the Scooter Race. Tomorrow I will Periscope it so if you are an alum check it out. I am cheering for Coach Frank Dachille FTW!! (For the Win -- if you were wondering what that acronym meant)
My favorite day of Homecoming weekend is Friday. I know Saturday is a lot of fun. But I love Friday because I love the energy of the Pep Rally, and I can't wait for the Bonfire.
My favorite moment of the Bonfire used to be Coach Jim Deuble introducing the Football players. It has been imitated ever since, but no one has ever done an intro as well.
The coach who came closest to surpassing Coach Deuble on intro's was Kyle Jones his first year as Head Coach of the Varsity Soccer team. That year he created a song for every player on his team ala the English Football cheers he grew up with. It was an incredible performance. Coach Deuble only surpasses Coach Jones due to his years of delivering a consistently outstanding performance. (I know its not a competition :)
The MVP of the Bonfire is our Upper School Principal Dr. David Potter. Dr. Potter will tell you a legendary story from one of the early Homecomings he was a part of -- at another school -- where a member of the coaching staff fell into the burning pyre of that school's bonfire. He has insisted on excellent security protocols to make sure the bonfire is secure at North Shore, and no one gets burned.
My least favorite moment of Homecoming is making sure we have 3 people who will work the football game chain crew. If you want to make me really happy, tell me you will work the chain crew. I will make sure you get a drink and a hot dog -- if not a pulled pork sandwich -- and I will forever honor you as a top notch "live and server!"
My favorite moment on Saturday is the delivery of the PIG! I know, the games are great. But the PIG is pretty cool -- it is now actually called Patrick's Pig by some -- not exactly the legacy I was hoping for; but it is a legacy. The Pig usually arrives early, early in the morning on Saturday. The man who cooks the Pig started it at about midnight Friday and early in the morning Saturday tows the grill with the Pig in it down Willow Road, turns right on Green Bay and then onto our campus. I like to greet this Pig. It will serve our community well -- starting at about 11 AM.
I actually almost never get to eat any of this Pig. But that leads me to my favorite meal of Homecoming Weekend. This is the Poochies Upper School Dinner on Friday evening. It used to be that teams would leave campus for team dinners on Fridays. That kind of stunk as Homecoming is a community event, and we want our athletes to stay on campus and eat together. About 7 or 8 years ago, the Upper School started the Poochies dinner. It is AWESOME! It really gears me up for the bonfire. By the way, I love hot dogs and Poochies has some really good hot dogs.
One of the coolest moments of Homecoming weekend happens at the end of the bonfire. If the weather is nice, I like to let people just hang out. I clean up for the next day's events with a few others, and I like to watch people just talk to each other in a relaxed and relatively quiet atmosphere. I think it reflects our community at its best.
Now my favorite moment of Homecoming weekend. You might be surprised, but it is after the soccer game is done on Friday. As soon as that game is over, we have to set up the field for the bonfire. The maintenance crew and I set up the bleachers and barricades. Then if I have a moment, I sneak over to the Poochies dinner, grab a Hot dog and Hamburger, and return to the Soccer field. Then I turn the music up loud. There are usually not many people around, so I play the music on the field as loud as I like and I play the music I like the best. It never last more than about 15 minutes. But it is my little reward for a lot of work that went into a great weekend.
If you went to school here 15 or 20 years ago .. or more, you won't believe what Homecoming weekend has become here. It is truly a collaboration of all members of our community -- athletes, coaches, teachers, parents, alums, and administrators. It is an incredible weekend and I am really proud to be part of it. Hope to see you O'er the Fields this weekend. GO RAIDERS!
PS -- ICYMI (that acronym means In Case You Missed It), we have won two ISL Championships this week alone -- Golf and Soccer. I know more is to come, but this is great way to start Homecoming Weekend! Congrats to players and coaches on those teams.
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