By Danny Teigman
The birds were chirping and the sounds of the Friday morning commute could be heard gearing up on the region's byways. But some 250 students, friends and dates of the Class of 2006 were as alert as if still studying for Regents and Advanced Placement exams as they eagerly waiting for their names to echo over the microphone as raffle-prize winners.
"It's so amazing, it's so surreal," Barras said excitedly.
Last Friday's late, late evening fiesta, which was held at indoor entertainment center Dave & Buster's in Westbury, was the culmination of a year of effort by the Morning Madness Committee, teachers, faculty and other community sponsors who provided a substance-free, non-alcoholic alternative to the community's pervasive, and unsupervised, post-prom parties.
"It's been my pleasure to sponsor Morning Madness for the last 10 years and I will keep doing it until there is 100 percent participation. The committee has done a wonderful job putting this together," said Joe Sinnona, a realtor and event sponsor.
Guests began to arrive around 11 p.m. and reached a peak of nearly 350 students. Attendance numbers were also similar to last year in which two-thirds of the Senior class attended, according to principal Nick Restivo. Each were hoping that they would walk away with one of the several prizes being offered, including iPod speaker docking stations, DVD players, 13-inch TVs alarm-clock radios, and at the top, a brand new car or a Dell laptop computer.
"You should have seen what my house looked like last night," Gina Guma, "Morning Madness Coordinator said. "It looked like a P.C. Richard warehouse," she added.
For the next six hours, the bottom floor of Dave and Buster's was devoted exclusively to Long Beach High School. Guma could be heard shouting out the names of raffle winners. Partygoers passed the night away competing in foul-shot contests, skee ball, video games, black light bowling and the ever-popular karaoke.
"That was one of the best things I ever saw," one student remarked after witnessing another student's heartfelt rendition of "Twist and Shout."
"Karaoke was a lot of fun and brings everyone together. It gives everyone a chance to let loose," Senior Jeannie Grasser added.
By 5 a.m. all those remaining gathered around to witness the results of the final two drawings.
Proving once again that "you've got to be in it to win it," the would-be owner of a new Ford had left Morning Madness shortly before.
The result: no car for him.
A similar early departure two years ago has since become high school lore of what not to do after the prom. This kid's loss was Barras's gain. "I'm literally shaking," Barras said. "I guess I was going to get a hand-me-down car, but not anymore!" While talking she furiously worked her cell, texting away.
Runner-up Nicholas Gina, who will be attending SUNY Farmingdale this fall ,said he was similarly excited about winning a new computer. "It's gonna start me out well in college," he said.
Michelle's friend, Kerri Downing, said she and her crowd had their own recipe for success, having sold the raffle tickets in bulk. "We knew we'd win the car. We had a 42-person party bus."
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