Every year, Lewiston and Clarkston High School go head-to-head to compete for the coveted “Golden Throne.” The Golden Throne is a gold painted toilet that serves as a trophy for the school pride and community efforts that go into the charitable event.
The week leading up to the basketball games, students, teachers, and community members come together to raise money for local charities through various incentives. This year, the schools picked the Tefft family, Suicide Prevention of the Inland Northwest, Habitat for Humanity, and United Way to receive the proceeds from the week’s activities.
The schools each pick a theme for their yearly t-shirt design and spirit item. This year, Lewiston High School chose the theme “Bengal Dojo,” while Clarkston High School’s theme was “Barnyard Bantams.” The students and faculty also put their spirit on display with themed dress-up days the week prior.
Lewiston’s spirit days this year were as follows:
Monday – No school, Tuesday – Black Belt (black & white), Wednesday – Hats vs. Sunglasses, Thursday – Farmer day, Friday – Bengal pride.
Clarkston’s spirit days included:
Monday – Hay day, Tuesday – Dress As Your Type, Wednesday – On Wednesdays We Wear Pink, Thursday – Anything But a Backpack, and Friday – Bantam Pride.
Lewiston High School raised money with their annual car smash at $2 per hit. The car smash became a tradition at LHS in 2016 when ASB officers thought it would be a fun way to get people excited for Golden Throne. A totaled car is brought on-site for students and staff to swing a sledge hammer and release their inner strength through destruction of the vehicle. LHS also held their powder-puff volleyball game, annual auction, change drive, as well as sold spirit links.
Clarkston High School held the “Golden Plunger” game for the wrestlers to showcase their skills, and raised $800 through their drive-by fundraiser. They also raised money with coin drives, jazz band entertainment, spirit links, and other incentives.
Spirit links are pieces of paper linked together that are purchased $0.25 for one or $1 for 5. Each school sells spirit links in their respective colors and the opposing schools compete to see who can sell more and create the bigger pile of spirit links at the game.
The main event includes the girls and boys basketball games at the P1FCU LCSC Activity Center, with performances by both schools’ cheerleaders between the games. The winner of the Golden Throne, however, isn’t just determined by the score of the game, but also crowd involvement.
Both cheerleading teams gave outstanding performances and led their crowds with strong energy and spirit.
Together, both schools raised $27,000 for charity- a record breaking amount collected for the Golden Throne event.
Lewiston High School won both girls and boys basketball games, however, Clarkston High School took the Golden Throne, winning by 2 votes overall.
See photos below from Golden Throne 2023.
