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DEC.23, 2024— The High School gym played host to a Pal-Mac holiday tradition Friday night, one which saw hundreds of dollars for charity!
The annual "Silent Night" games featured the Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball squads against Penn Yan.
The evening's events started at the end of the JV game, as the lights in the gym were turned off, except for one lowered bright light. Student-athletes and other students sat at center court to hear a special Pal-Mac-centric reading of "Twas the Night" from High School Principal Andy Wahl.
At the end of the reading, Santa Claus made a special appearance and handed out candy and other gifts to students.
Next, the lights came back on, and fans were encouraged to stick around for the Varsity game. What happened next put the "silent" in "silent night."
Fans remained silent until the Red Raiders scored their eighth point, at which point the crowd could cheer as loud as they wanted.
Pal-Mac first adopted the concept back in 2013.
As mentioned, the evening also served as a fundraiser for charity. The game (like all Pal-Mac regular season games) was free to attend, but donations were encouraged for the year's charity: St. Jude's Hospital. The decision to donate to St.Jude's was done in honor of Mr. Jim Nickolini, a long-time high school teacher who passed away in November.
The story of the game was picked up by WHEC-TV (News10NBC), which will air a special feature on Christmas Day.
The evening also marked the last basketball game for Athletic Director Tom Schmandt, who will officially retire at the end of December.
We have a couple of photo galleries to share from the evening, which you can check out below!
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- Palmyra-Macedon CSD
- Palmyra-Macedon High School