Deonta Johnson was too busy to make it to his crowning as King of West Potomac's Homecoming. It wasn't because he wasn't interested; as quarterback and team captain, he was tied up in the locker room preparing for the second half of the football game against Annandale High School.
In his place was his mother, who received Johnson's crown and rode off the field in the car with Emily Swinson, who was crowned Queen.
Despite the cold weather, a large crowd came out to the game and homecoming festivities, which were held at halftime. A large parade of cars carried the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior courts. Members of the senior court were each introduced, and then the winner was announced. Principal Eric Brent crowned the winners.
On Saturday evening the big Homecoming Dance was held at West Potomac, with more than 1,000 students attending. The fog machine worked so well that it set off the fire alarm, but nobody was the worse for wear.
Class of 2004 wins all four years of float competitions.
West Potomac senior Adrienne Egge has pieces of every float she's worked on the past three years. She will now add a piece of this year's float to that collection.
As a member of the Class of 2004, she and other students who have worked on all four floats were thrilled to be the winner again this year.
As far as they know, no other class has ever done this. Egge has not only worked on all four floats but has also provided the building space for it.
"They built at my house all four years. We were close to the school and easy to get to," she said.
Egge's favorite float is the first one they made. Following the theme, "Cruisin’ USA," the class decided to make a New Orleans Mardi Gras float. The life-like jazz players and huge mask made for a winning combination.
The next year, they selected "Wizard of Oz" to go with the theme, "A Night at the Movies." Complete with Dorothy, the Lion, Tin Man, Wizard and Munchkins, this float was very colorful.
Last year's theme was "Where the Wild Things Are," so the Class of 2004 created a jungle scene. This float was never paraded, as last year's homecoming was canceled due to the sniper incidents in the area. Instead, the floats were displayed and judged in the gym before the homecoming dance.
THIS YEAR, the theme was superheroes, and the Class of 2004 decided to go out with a bang. Characters from “X-Men” depicted the splitting of the Annandale Atoms; the theme was summarized with the plaque saying, "And so today, the atoms were split by the Class of 2004."
"No class really got into [float making] the way we did," said Egge. "We were the only ones who took it seriously."
Many students helped over the years, and Egge especially wanted to thank Rebecca Lear and her family. She also appreciated the efforts of Charlie Seward, who donated the lumber and the trailer every year, even this one, when his daughter no longer attended West Potomac. Kelly Whitton did a lot of the drawing, and Chase Johnson did some of the painting. Michael Einbinder contributed work, as did Brittany Dyer and Stefani Scarboro.
Egge said that several drama people helped, and numerous other people pitched in, as well.
"It was fun working on the floats and a good way to meet people," said Egge. "It's nice to be able to be proud of something."