Glitz and glamour of Hollywood

When the distinguished presenter at the podium announced my name over the public address system, I was greeted with thunderous applause throughout the immense theater as numerous spectators in close proximity stopped me to express their sincere congratulations before finally making it on stage to receive my illustrious award.

First, I would like to thank the Academy!

To the naked eye, it may have appeared that I was present for the fifty-sixth Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California to accept the award for Best Actor in a major motion picture.

Only in my dreams!

However, I was attending the End of Year Awards Assembly with all my friends and classmates in the grandiose auditorium at dear ol’ Lincoln High School; whereupon I was awarded the Industrial Arts Award – sponsored by the Ellwood City Forge – for top honors in architectural design after three years of mechanical drawing classes.

It was a very memorable occasion indeed!

Just an hour before the unforgettable moment which caught me totally off guard, I was celebrating the end of an era with my boon companions as we filtered into the boisterous corridor to participate in the final school assembly prior to our high school graduation.

“Did you guys ever think that we’d get to this point,” questioned Robert “Mags” Magnifico as he removed the combination lock from his empty storage compartment. “After all those years of doing late night homework and turning in assignments, we’re finally able to put all of that behind us as we take our final curtain call before leaving this place forever.”

“I didn’t think I was going to survive seventh grade,” admitted Robert “Robbie” Brough after depositing his last consumable textbook into a trash receptacle. “I thought my heart was going to explode when Mr. Timmerman made us climb up that rope in gym class; and after falling back to the bottom, I could hear Gabriel’s trumpet calling me home.”

“Gabriel’s trumpet,” guffawed Lee Winegar when ‘The Little Band of Brothers’ descended the stairs at the southwest corner of the main building. “When you were seeing stars with that goofy grin, Cathy Woloszyn was walking down the hall playing her clarinet; but then Mr. “T” threw a cup of water in your direction to snap you out of it.”

“That reminds me of the music department,” noted Bruce Thalmann upon reaching the congested stairwell next to the school’s administrative offices. “With choir as a common link for most of us, we managed to remain close friends after all these years; however, we were never able to persuade Lee and Mark to join our ranks.”

Hey, at least I participated in the senior class musical!

“High school wouldn’t have been the same without you guys,” I confessed while inching our way into the majestic auditorium for one last assembly. “Every time my life seemed to be teetering on the edge, one or more of you would pull me back from the abyss; and before I knew what happened, we would be laughing like a pack of wild hyenas.”

“That’s because you were the one making all the jokes,” revealed Steve Grossman before finding an empty row of seating in the center section. “With the exception of my girlfriend Stacey, I don’t think there are very many happy memories from high school that didn’t somehow include you; because you always brought a smile to my face.”

I’m glad you made that distinction between me and your girlfriend, because I surely wouldn’t want you to confuse the two of us on any given Friday night!

As each award recipient made their way to the platform to collect a well-deserved prize, I kept looking at the dwindling number of trophies laid out across the stage apron in an attempt to gauge how much longer before the annual ceremony would come to a dramatic conclusion; but I was about to get a jolt of electricity which made me light up like a Christmas tree.

Immediately after hearing my name announced over the public address system by our esteemed principal Mr. Richard Santillo, it took me a minute to realize that I was the one being honored with the very prestigious award for my diligent efforts to create a complete set of house design plans over the course of the past school year.

I could hardly believe my ears!

“Congratulations, buddy,” exclaimed Robbie as he reached over to wrap me up in a great big bear hug. “I bet you never expected to be taking home one of those trophies today; so, you better get up there and accept your award before they decide to give it to someone else.”

After receiving a round of heartfelt compliments from the rest of my best-loved chums, I stepped into the spotlight to receive a beautifully engraved wall plaque accompanied by a fifty-dollar check; after which I had a photo taken with my mechanical drawing teacher Mr. Donald Karasack for the local newspaper – the Ellwood City Ledger.

I thoroughly enjoyed my moment in the sun!

At the conclusion of the all-school assembly, these seniors rose to our feet and exited through the double doors at stage left for the last time as students before walking across the hallway to the girl’s gymnasium to pick up our caps and gowns for graduation the following Friday evening.

Moments after these close-knit companions piled into Mags’ Monte Carlo, the conscientious driver reached across my scrunched-up legs to snatch a tape cassette from the glove compartment before popping it into his newly installed tape deck player – a graduation gift from his father.

I have the perfect song for this auspicious occasion!

As we peeled out of the parking lot for the last time as students, the words to Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” reverberated throughout the classic automobile as we sang along with the music while heading toward Vinny’s Pizza for our last celebratory lunch together.