Long Beach, Mississippi High School Homecoming 2005 Update...

.... or, It's not really important until Okra Winfrey gets her paws on it.

After spending nearly 24 hours on a bus, Lampeter-Strasburg High School students arrived in Long Beach, Miss., Thursday and feasted on jambalaya and red beans and rice, refueled for a whirlwind homecoming weekend full of joy and a bit of sadness.

The students had traveled nearly 1,200 miles to lift the spirits of their peers at Long Beach High School by delivering truckloads of trappings for a homecoming neither school will soon forget.

Students from the two schools gathered Friday afternoon in the Long Beach gym for a pep rally prior to a long-delayed homecoming football game against nearby Pass Christian High School.

Long Beach, a town of about 20,000, and Pass Christian were nearly wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. Seventy-five percent of Long Beach's infrastructure was destroyed, and students weren't able to return to their damaged high school until Oct. 3.

After hearing of their plight, students at L-S "adopted" Long Beach and decided to raise money and solicit donations so the school could celebrate homecoming in grand style.

Preparations began months before the caravan of 40 L-S High School students rolled into town Thursday.

About two months ago, L-S students began raising money and soliciting donations through a program coordinated by Lampeter Church of the Brethren.

Students raised $30,000 in cash and obtained about $46,000 worth of donations, including two tractors to replace the school's maintenance equipment, which was destroyed by the hurricane.

Trucks -- donated for the trip, of course -- were packed with hundreds of prom dresses, dozens of men's dress shirts and ties, CDs, karaoke machines, bicycles, clothes and food.

Local disc jockey Nick Shucker and two other DJs also traveled to Long Beach to provide entertainment at the dance, and eight hairdressers were planning to fly in from Lancaster to help students primp for homecoming.

Pass Christian students also will attend the homecoming celebration, dubbed "Hollywood Nights."

They need an appearance by Robert Wuhl, not Okra. (Has it really been 25 years, Newbomb?)

The effort has attracted national attention.

Long Beach students are scheduled to appear this morning on "Good Morning America," and talk show host Oprah Winfrey plans to drop in on the dance tonight, according to L-S students.