Lake Zurich school's birthday bash a splash

Even at 50, Seth Paine still rocks.

More than 300 people took advantage of beautiful weather Saturday to dance, eat and play in honor of the 50th birthday of Seth Paine Elementary School in Lake Zurich. First built in 1961, then rebuilt in 1967 after a tornado that devastated the town, the school is home to 405 kindergarten through fifth-grade students as one of five District 95 schools.

Turning 50 is no small deal, and Principal Cameron Shapiro said he went to the school's parent-teacher organization last year with the concept of marking the occasion.

“I just thought we should do something to celebrate the school, and more importantly, bring the community together for a day,” Shapiro said. “The PTO's response was extremely enthusiastic, and volunteers started lining up right away.”

Shapiro said that, considering the hard economic times for schools, organizers considered charging admission, holding a raffle or sponsoring some other moneymaking activity but quickly discarded all such notions.

“I suppose we talked about things like that for a short time; selling tickets for food or the dunk tank or whatever,” he said. “But the overwhelming opinion was that we should just make it free for everyone; just have people come out and enjoy themselves.”

So on Saturday, kids danced with the crew from Music in Motion, which provided an up-tempo soundtrack for the afternoon as parents staffed the hot dog grill and put on a picnic for the crowd.

Sharon Salmon of Lake Zurich brought her kindergarten and first-grade daughters to the event and said it was everything she had come to expect from both the school and the town.

“We moved here three years ago from the East Coast and couldn't be happier with the way things have worked out,” she said. “This is a fantastic school in a wonderful community, and everything we had ever heard about the Midwest is true.”

Shapiro took center stage during the afternoon when he perched himself on the dunk tank seat and invited the guests to sling a ball for the chance to give him a soaking. Second-grader Audrey Pratt was near the head of the long line that quickly formed and chucked the sphere into the center of the bull's-eye that sent Shapiro into the briny.

So what was it like, Audrey, to drop the principal you will see every day for the next school year like an anchor into the bay?

“Very funny,” she said. “And very weird.”