HomEComing 2021 Recap

All praise to our Lord for an amazing HomEComing weekend of October 15 & 16! A special thanks to all those who partnered with us to pray away the anticipated rain for Saturday’s picnic. It was a beautiful sunny day and the downpour came right as the last clean-up item, a pile of hay from the “Needle in a haystack” game, was being cleared away at 5 o’clock!

This year, we made some adjustments to emphasize that the New EC HomEComing was for EVERYONE from our EC community, not just alumni! We were intentional in wanting opportunities to engage everyone.

With the introduction of our new community picnic, EC was truly represented from our Heritage alumni, recent graduates, high school student volunteers, parent food server volunteers, to preschoolers enjoying balloon animals and a pick-up volleyball game of parents and students! 

One fun highlight was the introduction of the staff “Donut on a String” contest! A special thanks to our staff who were willing to show their silly side by racing to strategically eat a donut dangling from a string first without having it fall. There were two rounds, first a group of teachers consisting of: Donna Hoogerhyde, Donna Furrey, Linda Lim, Nicole Martin, Alyssa Provencher, and Debi Veenstra. Despite a competitive effort, we had no winners as everyone’s donuts fell towards the last bite. For the next round, the school administrators consisting of Sandy Bottge, Donna Hoogerhyde, Karyn Baitzel, Ruth Kuder, and David Intlekofer, put in all their effort and the bragging rights now belong to David Intlekofer, our high school principal! 

Below is a quick recap of our highlights but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so I encourage you to look through our photo album to get a sense of this fun and blessed weekend! 

Highlights from Friday, October 15

• The morning kicked-off with a very successful Alumni & Friends Golf Outing at Wallkill Golf Club. Not only was it a beautiful day of fun and fellowship on the golf course, but the guys gave a glowing report of the venue and the food as well. A great time from start to finish! 
• At 4:00pm we had our first annual Isaac Hennessy HomEComing Soccer Game, where our Eagles faced off against Haledon Public School at the Wyckoff campus. After a strong first half by our Eagles, half-time was highlighted by Jim Hennessy (Isaac’s father) sharing Isaac’s story of life with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. Like Superman returning to his own planet and no longer being able to do the things that Superman does (like fly and run faster than a spreading bullet), muscular dystrophy makes Isaac feel like he is running around with incredible weight on his shoulders. To demonstrate, we had two fellow Eagles carry another Eagle on their backs while trying to play soccer. No easy feat! No wonder Jim calls Isaac his Superman! The demonstration concluded with Isaac receiving a signed game ball from the entire EC Middle School team, with lots of fist bumps and much respect.
• The evening was highlighted by two more big games, both at Willow Field. The girls Varsity soccer game was against Mary Help of Christians Academy. Gabbi and Gianna Angelucci engaged the whole high school community to fundraise for breast cancer awareness month in memory of their aunt. There was not a dry eye on the field as they shared from their hearts about the life and legacy of their aunt, and how their love for her motivates them to join the fight against breast cancer. Both our teams and our fans decked out in pink to support this fundraising effort, and praise God, the girls raised over $2,000! At the conclusion of their game, the team was able to present Valley Hospital Foundation with a check to go towards their cancer program.
• The boys Varsity soccer team concluded our Friday evening at Willow Field with a competitive game against Butler, coming away with a 2-1 victory. Let’s go Eagles! 

Highlights from Saturday, October 16

• In the morning, both our girls JV and Varsity volleyball teams played against Abundant Life Academy. They showed great sportsmanship, even inviting them to join us at our picnic afterwards to grab lunch.
• At noon the new HomEComing community picnic kicked off with activities for everyone. Burgers, hotdogs, apple cider, donuts, and ice cream were enjoyed by the crowd of over 600! In addition to face painting, balloon animals, giant inflatables, and various games, the high school cross country team also joined in by hosting an obstacle course for the kids. Of course, there was also the very memorable staff donut contest which we hope to bring back next year with even more participants!
• On the field next to the picnic, the Alumni Soccer game kicked off at 12:30 and the stands were full of supporters and families who wandered over from the picnic to watch.
• Following the sports theme, the 3v3 Basketball tournament started at 2pm. This year we partnered with Athletes in Action and had 15 teams ranging from our middle school participants to adult alumni! Coach Will Michaels from AIA organized and oversaw all the festivities, making for a God-honoring and fun time for all. 
• The weekend concluded with the HomEComing dance for our high school students, hosted and organized by the EC High School Student Senate, with the help of our excellent teachers and administrators. Word on the street is that the DJ was awesome and that several Eagles were observed doing the “worm” and some front handsprings. Cannot wait to see the pictures! 

What a wonderful weekend! A great big thank you to all our student volunteers who helped with everything from directing cars for parking, applying temporary tattoos on kids, to assisting kids on the giant inflatables. We are also thankful for our other faithful volunteers of parents, alumni, staff, and friends who helped the whole weekend to go smoothly. Lastly, we were able to offer this weekend free of charge thanks to our generous sponsors. THANK YOU so much for your support and commitment to our EC Community!

By: Soo Brown

Soo Brown is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Eastern Christian School.

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