By Connie Nolen/Community Columnist

“Who is handling hospitality?” asked Bridgette Dodson.

Discussing the details of taking care of home football game hospitality, Julie Makosky and Donna Ross agreed to team up to take on the assignment.

Sharing parent contact lists and dividing duties, these moms of Pelham High School senior football players are thinking about football in July—meet and planning because they know that August and football season will soon arrive

With a new school system in place—and with a smaller student population—these moms were also discussing new ideas for celebrating Pelham’s kids. Their ideas brought back lots of memories of past PHS traditions. Remembering days of decorating doors, planting yard signs and marching in the homecoming parade from the rear parking lot of Food World—now the Mi Pueblo shopping center—up the hill to the high school made me think about the joys of a smaller student body and the opportunities that being a smaller school might create.

Preparing to greet fewer students involves challenges as well. With fewer teachers, we’ll take on more assignments and responsibilities because we want the kids to have all of the activities that they’ve grown accustomed to having. The challenges will be many, but the devotion of these teachers who’ve chosen to stay at Pelham High School runs deep.

Invited to the meeting to coordinate information about the layout, design and ad sales for the football program, I’m also encouraging parents to sign their students up for volunteer shifts at Pelham’s Golden Jubilee. Remarkably, most of the boys have already volunteered. There is so much to do and fewer kids to volunteer, but everyone seems willing to give more.

Community volunteer Rosie Metcalf happily emails me with answers to all of my many questions as I step back into working on the football program. Local Pelham merchants take the ad sheets excited to see that the experienced kids of the Literary Magazine staff will design ads for them if they would like a new ad design.

We need all of Pelham involved to create great opportunities again this year.