On Friday, Dec. 5, DECA held their annual Mr. Spiffy High event at 7 p.m. in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School auditorium. The beloved show drew a near sellout crowd and raised over $7,000 for Mallory’s Army, an organization in NJ that stands up for suicide prevention and against bullying.
The yearly competition features senior boys entertaining an audience of students, parents and judges through rounds of fashion, talent and lip-sync. Senior girl escorts collect money in jars throughout the night, which adds to the respective contestants’ score.
DECA advisors Marjorie Fitzgibbon and Bethany Henry along with vice president Sydney Klein coordinated the planning and execution of the event. Vice president announcers Greg Baerson and Vance Slack introduced the nine contestants and filled in the gaps between rounds with humor and transitions.
Participants:
John Buckley – “Mr. La Grande Ave”
Darren Edelman – “Mr. Kevin Road”
Callum Fynes – “Mr. Birchwood Terrace”
Alex Ho – “Mr. Nicole Court”
Asher Jackvony – “Mr. Rambling Drive”
Jonah Leske – “Mr. Warren Street”
Sal Racanelli – “Mr. Tussel Lane”
Lorenzo Tittanegro – “Mr. Cook Ave”
Marco Vidone – “Mr. Dogwood Drive”
The show commenced with the group dancing to “Stayin’ Alive” followed by the scoring rounds. Before the closing number to “Bye Bye Bye” and announcing the winner, DECA presented a touching video of the beneficiary’s mission of empowering students to always be kind and be the person they would want to meet.
Without further ado, “Mr. Dogwood Drive” Marco Vidone was crowned the 2026 Mr. Spiffy High.
“[Winning] makes me feel even more confident,” Vidone told The Fanscotian.
As a captain of the high school cheer team, Vidone brought along a few members from the squad to perform his troll dance talent. He credits their energy, which uplifted him throughout the night.
“They pushed me to go above and beyond with [my performance],” Vidone said.
Vidone and the other contestants dedicated tireless hours outside of school to practice. He appreciated the effort from everybody involved in the production, especially Klein and Fitzgibbon.
“It was perfectly run by Sydney and all of them,” Vidone said. “Mrs. Fitzgibbon really does an amazing job every year [managing] the event.”
In case you missed it, you can visit the Raider News YouTube Channel to see behind-the-scenes footage of the show.
“10 out of 10 [experience],” Vidone said. “It was all fun, and I’m so glad that it was for such a great cause. If I could do it again, I would.”
