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news indexIn Sarah's Town, Much Ado About Golden Girl
(source fom yahoo.com)
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Gold medals change even the best-laid plans
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Weeks before Sarah Hughes left Great Neck, L.I., for her magical trip to Salt Lake City, her hometown geared up for a small and simple "Welcome Home Sarah" parade.
But the 16-year-old figure skater's awe-inspiring gold medal victory at the Olympics has changed everything.
Last night, Hughes presented the award for Best Pop Collaboration at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles ¡X continuing a recent tradition that began with Tara Lipinski .
Lipinski, who won the figure skating gold in the 1998 Winter Olympics , joined Boyz II Men in announcing the Best Pop Album winner, James Taylor.
Hughes got the Backstreet Boys .
"My judges aren't usually this cute," she said, smiling shyly in a single-shoulder black minidress surrounded by the boy-band members. "Finally, my friends will think I'm cool because I'm at the Grammys ."
What could be more cool? When Hughes gets back home, the small and simple parade is now expected to draw as many as 40,000 people Sunday.
"It was going to be a small community event," Great Neck Parks Superintendent Richard Arenella said yesterday while announcing the official parade route. "Obviously, the event has gotten much larger."
The 11 a.m. parade will start ¡X rain or shine ¡X at the Great Neck train station and head north along Middle Neck Road, a street lined with shopping districts.
The parade route will veer into a residential area and pass Great Neck North High School, where Hughes is a student, and the Parkwood Ice Skating Rink before looping around and finishing at the high school. Officials plan to rent giant television screens for the parade.
The Macy's Statue of Liberty float will glide along the parade route, along with the high school marching band, Emerald Society bagpipers and convertibles chauffeuring the Hughes family, her pals and dignitaries including the likes of Gov. Pataki and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Hughes will speak last during an hour-long ceremony on the front steps of the high school, Arenella said.
Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said the town "has never had an event like this before." Celender asked that business owners join in the theme of the event and "Line the Streets With Gold" by decorating their storefronts.
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