Some things just aren’t supposed to happen; It’s a general consensus that the Detroit Lions will never win the Super Bowl, Cyber Trucks are ugly, and no one famous comes from Knoch or goes to Knoch—until now, that is.
“It was literally perfect timing.” sophomore Alyssa Patterson said.
Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal recently launched his new product, candy gummies! This past August, Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies were born. They have gummies that come in the shape of his face, Cacti, 4-leaf clovers, and Trucks!
Why does this matter, though? Because it led to one of the most memorable homecomings for Knoch students.
“Alyssa’s mom bought us the gummies a few weeks before,” said Sophomore Jackson McCool.
The McCools and the Pattersons have been longtime family friends.
My dear former co-worker, McCool, frequently discussed his worries about not landing a date for the big homecoming dance when the time came. One day he told me that he decided he was going to ask Patterson, and I don’t think either of them looking back knew what they were getting themselves into.
“I cracked up when I saw the [Homecoming proposal] sign because it was an inside joke,” said Patterson.
The Lovely sign McCool presented Patterson with read, “Alyssa, HOCO would be Shaq-a-licious with you!” with a bag or two of those famous gummies.
The unsuspecting duo posted the proposal on their Instagram stories, tagging the official Shaq-A-Licious account and Shaq’s account.
But people tag celebrities and brands all the time. What was so special to make Shaq see this one post? Well, Patterson is here to tell the full story.
“The people at Hershey [Shaq-A-licious’ parent company] saw the post, and they happened to be with Shaq at the time promoting the candy in Times Square. It was literally perfect timing,” she said.
If the timing was off by even a day, I’m sure the people at Hershey would not have shown Shaq the photos. His response: “Send them a limo.”
After this, McCool received a video he never thought he’d get. It was from Shaq! Shaq slid in his DMs saying that he liked his style and to send him his parent’s contact info.
McCool said, “I didn’t know what was happening until the limo pulled up, because it was a surprise.”
Quite the surprise that is! You don’t always see a Cadillac Escalade limousine pull into your driveway.
That limousine made the night, THE night according to Patterson. “Our friends showed up literally one minute later (after the limo arrived) for photos and we were all screaming and jumping. Jack and I were so happy to be able to share it with our friends.”
But this wasn’t only an impactful night for McCool and Patterson; the students at Knoch had a little surprise waiting for them at the Homecoming dance.
“He sent us and the school tons of gummies,” said McCool.
Truly there is no better feeling than when you run into your friend and they have some juicy news for you. That news usually isn’t “There are gummies with Shaq’s face on them at the concession stand!” though.
Hundreds of bags! Original flavored and sour-flavored gummies lined the corners of the concession stand. People were coming from all angles to get theirs. I myself snuck to both sides and grabbed one on each, great strategy, truly.
This Homecoming was the night many students will remember for a lifetime. I can already picture myself telling this story to my new, grown friends 30 years from now.
Patterson must agree, saying, “I just want to say how thankful I am. I will remember this forget and I really appreciate it.”
