From the archives: Great Neck welcomes Sarah Hughes in style

This story was originally published in Newsday on March 2, 2002

When Sarah Hughes left Kings Point last month to compete in the Olympics, the folks in her hometown were so proud they decided to put together a parade.

"No matter how she did, we wanted to honor Sarah for all her achievements," said Great Neck Parks District Superintendent Richard Arenella.

Arenella pictured something big by Great Neck standards. Maybe a few thousand people. All the local leaders. Maybe even a marching band.

Then he saw Hughes' gold medal performance, and he knew immediately her homecoming would be a national spectacle.

"The minute she skated her program, I knew we were in trouble," he said.

Sure enough, when Hughes makes her official homecoming Sunday, she will be accompanied by Gov. George Pataki, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, the Secret Service, the State Police, news media from across the world - and about 30,000 of her biggest fans.

This is nearly enough excitement to break the back of little Great Neck, where the biggest event in recent history was the annual ice skating show last year that drew about 1,200 people.

A throng of local officials have been working 18-hour days since Hughes' dad, John, confirmed the parade date last week.

"It's kind of like cramming for exams," said Jean Celender, mayor of Great Neck Plaza. "We plan our annual street festival for six months. This, we've planned in six days."

At the local parks department offices Friday, the phone continued to ring off the hook.

"I don't need Senator Clinton and Governor Pataki using the same entrance as 60 news photographers," Arenella barked into the phone.

Great Neck officials even hired a public relations firm to handle the national media. The firm held a telephone conference for the media Thursday, and everyone from CBS's "Entertainment Tonight" to CNN called in to hear where they could plug in microphones and set up cameras to get the best shot of Hughes.

The community has proclaimed Sunday "Sarah Hughes Day." They will decorate the village's main thoroughfare, Middle Neck Road, in a gold theme, and have temporarily renamed it "Sarah Hughes Way."

In addition to Pataki, Clinton and Schumer, the parade will include Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, Assemb. Thomas DiNapoli and local mayors. There also will be marching bands, mounted police and floats. Between 50 and 60 police officers from seven local departments will patrol the event, said Nassau County Police Department Insp. George Morrish of the Sixth Precinct.

Officials said they expected to continue to work long hours through late Saturday night, making last-minute adjustments to the parade schedule. But as of Friday, their biggest concern was the one thing they can't control: The weather. Despite the prediction of rain, there is no rain date for the parade.

"It may look a little disorganized," said a local official who did not want to be identified. "It may not run as smoothly as something you'd see in the city, but I'm sure that Sarah is going to love it."