With Homecoming less than two weeks away, NASH students are busy planning their attire and dinner plans. The first dance of the school year brings its fair share of stress, and the questions pile up fast. What should I wear? Where should we eat? What about photos?
But Homecoming is also the first highly anticipated school event of the year. From 7-10 pm on Saturday, September 30, the “Harvest Moon” themed event has hundreds of juniors and seniors ecstatic to be with their friends and make more memories.
“I am really excited for the night, especially hanging out with my friends and singing along to all the songs,” said Isabella Williamson, a NASH junior.
As expected, juniors and seniors are finding the choice of attire to be among the most intense aspects of the planning process. For girls, finding a perfect dress that will ship and arrive in enough time, and also be original, is difficult. NASH students are finding that online websites, such as Lulus, Hello Molly, and Lucy in the Sky, offer efficiency, but One Enchanted Evening, a store in Zelienople, along with Windsor in Ross Park Mall and House of Couture Designs in McCandless Crossing, are popular places to shop in person.
Williamson explained her troubles with online shopping.
“I ordered five dresses at the end of July, hoping that there would be a lot of options,” she said. “Two of them still have not arrived at my house. But I loved one of them, so that is the one I am going with. It is a navy dress from Windsor.”
For boys, the process is often simpler.
“I am wearing an all-black suit,” junior Eli Schoedel said. “I’ve had it for a few years and it does the job.”
Charlie Laquatra, another junior, has a similar approach.
“I bought my suit a few weeks ago,” he said. “Finding something to wear was the least of my concerns.”
Typically, students attend the dance with a group of friends or a date. Prior to arriving at NASH, most find a place to take pictures, followed by dinner at a restaurant.
“My friends and I have a reservation at Il Pizzaiolo,” junior Hope Bolibruck said. “It is my go-to place when I want to eat out.”
Another junior, Reilly Gabos explained that her group’s restaurant choice was more complicated.
“We threw around a few ideas of going to Ichiban, Walnut Grill, or Burgatory. But we came to a conclusion to eat at Firebirds,” Gabos said.,
The pre-dance customs are important to many students, but the dance itself, held in the NASH gym, is the main event, with three straight hours of singing and dancing.
The final piece that will make for a perfect night is the DJ’s choice of music, which has students holding out hopes for their favorite songs. Schoedel said she hopes for “2K FREESTYLE (feat. Lil Darkie),” Laquatra wishes to hear “Time of Our Lives” by Pitbull and Ne-yo, and Bolibruck has high hopes for “Timber” by Pitbull and Ke$ha.
And don’t forget — tickets remain on sale online through this Friday at 2:15pm.
