Amsterdam Homecoming celebrates its 50th year

Former AHS Principal Burt De Rose shakes hands with the Amsterdam Ram. Photos by Joseph Przybylo

If you have ever been to one of Amsterdam High School’s Homecoming parades or football games, you can thank Burt De Rose.

De Rose was just beginning his second year as an English and Social Studies teacher at Wilbur H. Lynch High School when he suggested a parade before a Saturday afternoon football game as a way to increase school and community pride and spirit.

The parade became a school tradition and school officials, students and many more helped celebrate its 50 anniversary on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007.

De Rose, who served as the parade’s grand marshal, said he has always been proud of the fact that he graduated from the high school – way back when it was Lynch High School – and that he got to spend his entire career working there, eventually becoming the principal.

De Rose was honored during a half-time ceremony, and got to shake hands with the Amsterdam Ram, which also owes its existence to the former principal. The school's teams were previously knows as the Hilltoppers, but De Rose helped come up with the Ram. Rams live on hills, so what better mascot could be chosen, he says.

De Rose couldn’t have been more pleased with the celebration and the turnout for both the parade and the football game.

“I just feel so much pride, and what is so nice is the community spirit. The graduates come from all over the country, the parents come, the students. They pack the place in, and when you see the smiles on their faces, that’s what makes it all worthwhile,” he said.

Although the parade was a success in its first year, De Rose said it kept building and building for many years. Many years ago, the school’s music director would borrow an actual ram from a friend and bring it to the game each year, De Rose said.

This year’s Homecoming was a rousing success, according to high school Principal Gavin Murdoch. About 4,000 people attended the game, he said, and they got to watch their Amsterdam Rams trounce Gloversville, 55-14.

The parade also drew a hefty crowd before the game started. This year’s parade theme was ‘I saw it in the movies.’ So, all of the floats were based on movies, including Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The high school students were “fired up for the football game,” Murdoch said, because they got to hold a pep rally earlier in the day. Because of construction at the high school, there was no pep rally for the 2006 Homecoming, he said.