For some cities, a high school homecoming would simply mean the naming of the king and queen, a football game and a dance. Not so for the city of Claremont. Homecoming was in full effect last week, not only for just Claremont High School but also for the city as a whole, beginning with the homecoming rally at Memorial Park on Friday afternoon and concluding with the homecoming dance on Saturday night. “Everybody looks forward to it,” said Mary Ellen Barba, a local resident. “Between the 4th of July Parade and the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, this is one of the most important events of the year.” The rally on Friday afternoon brought hundreds of people to Memorial Park in order to see the crowning of the homecoming king and also the awarding of the best float among the 4 classes at CHS. The floats each had a theme representative of the 1950s through 1980s with the CHS senior class of 2007 being awarded first place for its “Psychedelic 60s” float that featured astronauts, former US President John F. Kennedy, Volkswagen bus and a variety of colors. For CHS senior Sean Carraway, the highlight of the afternoon was when his name was announced from the stage as the school’s 2007 homecoming king. Clad in a white, pin-striped suit, the prince-turned-king known as “Kid Dynamite” took to the stage and was clothed in the royal robe in front of his peers, parents, school administrators and community members. “It felt good being named homecoming king and also knowing that I had as many friends as I did showing their support,” Sean said. Victoria Bonifacio, also a CHS senior, would later on be named homecoming queen at the football game on Friday night. The halftime announcement was accompanied by fireworks, Victoria’s name being spelled out in a lighted display and also the appearance of last year’s homecoming queen Samantha Telarroja. “To me it was such an honor for the senior class to nominate Sean and I,” Victoria said. “To be among the Top 5 would have been enough but being crowned was great.” Another one of the highlights on Friday was the annual Homecoming Parade that began at the corner of Tenth Street and Yale Avenue and ended at El Roble Intermediate School. The course of the parade went through residential areas and also the Village. (story continues below)
Featured in the parade were the bands, cheer squad and dance teams from CHS and El Roble, the floats of the 2008-2011 classes, the homecoming grand marshals Robert Hoyle and Amy Clark and the homecoming court. “It was great,” said Brett O’Connor, CHS principal. “To see the town come together with the hard work of the students, the great support of the community and the excitement that was brought to the Village—it’s a great tradition.” Sandra Flores, a parent whose son attends CHS and daughter attends El Roble, shares the same sentiments as the principal. “I definitely came to see the spirit of the whole thing,” she said. “I went to a small Catholic school when I was younger and they didn’t do anything like this.” Though Friday night’s homecoming game against Etiwanda did not bring a favorable result for CHS, with the Eagles shutting out the Wolfpack by a 43-0 tally, the football stadium was packed with standing room only on the home side of the stadium. On Saturday night, the students enjoyed the Homecoming Dance, bringing the homecoming festivities to its proper conclusion until 2008. Both Sean and Victoria found more appreciation in this year’s homecoming events as seniors, a different experience than when they were underclassmen. “The last couple of years, I never really knew how much went into homecoming and how much ASB does to make it happen,” Sean said. For Victoria, the crowning was just a bonus in what she considers to be one of the best times of the school year. “When I was an underclassman, I thought this was the biggest deal ever,” she said. “And when I was selected [as homecoming queen], it was just awesome. The whole experience was so much fun.”
—Landus Rigsby
|
 
|
November 7, 2007
November 7, 2007