Hundreds Attend Third Annual Pantherfest

Hundreds of people filled the Ken Pickerill Stadium at Friday night for the third annual Pantherfest.

The event featured appearances by the marching band, poms, cheerleaders, sports teams and lots of activities around the perimeter of the track.

Marlene Frigo, a member of the Boosters Club and parent representative, said the event wasn’t so much about earning money for the boosters than it was to “Celebrate the start of the school year."

"It’s a way for everyone to meet everyone and see each other before school officially starts," she said.

Each sports team had a booth with different activities for the kids to try and win prizes.

The badminton team had “badminton buckets,” requiring kids to hit a badminton birdie with a racquet into the buckets.

“It’s harder than it looks,” laughed Anne Christine Fay, a junior varsity badminton member, aiming for a bucket. “The wind is quite strong.”

Other activities included a cake and bake walk by the soccer team, face painting by the cheerleaders, a pitch throw by the baseball team, a putt-putt track by the golf team and “ace in the hole” by the tennis team.

Annabelle Locke, 4, was having fun at the “ace in the hole,” where kids had to throw a small ball at a array of cups and try to get it inside. The grand prize was a pet fish, but just for trying everyone got goldfish crackers.

“I’m having lots of fun,” she said shyly, munching on her crackers while her sister, Kassidy, took a turn at the game.

The band kicked off the evening with some rousing music on the track, after which different poms and cheerleading teams took to the tarmac to rouse the audience sitting in the bleachers.

Laura Spero was there supporting her daughter Emma, a freshman, in the junior varsity poms.

“It’s a really nice concept,” she said of Pantherfest. “It helps to get information out about the different activities and organizations. I didn’t even know Oswego had a soccer team!”

The varsity boys soccer team played a scrimmage match on the football field around 4:30 p.m., while the varsity girls volleyball team played inside the gym. The parking lot was a buzz during that time, as people darted from one scene to the other.

According to Oswego High school junior Cary Nagel, who had attended both previous Pantherfests, this was the first time the booths were set up on the track.

“They’ve always been in the field house before,” she said.

Nagel was there with her friend Bridgett Leverich, a fellow OHS junior, to watch the band and cheer for friends in the poms squad.

“You get to see everybody and who made the teams,” said Nagel. “It’s a nice event.”

Adding to the atmosphere was the enticing smell of Dick’s Mini Donuts and the foot-stomping beat of popular artists like Katy Perry, Lady GaGa and Taylor Swift projecting across the stadium. The concessions stands were hopping with orders of cheeseburgers, smoothies and slushies and plenty of bottled water for the humid and hot evening.

The varsity cheerleaders summed up the evening, full of pride for Oswego, well with their last cheer of the evening:

“Everybody shout out your orange and blue pride;
stand up and yell for Oswego High!”