Several screams chilled the warm summer air and caused a few passersby to look up.

No, it wasn't a bird, or a plane, but the Super Shot, the tallest attraction at Lancaster Catholic High School's 29th annual carnival, which opened Monday night at the school's athletic fields.

"It's a pretty good ride," Christian Shelby said about the Super Shot, which slowly raises passengers above the fairgrounds, then drops suddenly.

Shelby insisted he was not one of the screamers.

But Isaiah Vazquez, 13, had a different experience on the Typhoon, which spins its seated occupants in high clockwise circles.

"It knocked the tears out of me," Isaiah said.

Apparently, they were tears of joy.

"I'm here to have fun tonight," Isaiah said with a grin. "I'm going to go on all the rides."

He had quite a selection. The LCHS carnival, which is open through Saturday night, includes classics such as bumper cars, a fun house and a Ferris wheel, but it also features more innovative attractions such as the Tornado.

Taja Carney, 11, was hooked.

"It goes in the air and you can spin yourself around," she said of the ride. "You can go at your own speed."

Taja attended the carnival with her aunt, Amanda Smith; uncle, Mark Smith; and cousins, Alanah Smith, 8, and Bayanna Smith, 9.

Amanda Smith, who stood wearing a plush cotton-candy-colored snake draped around her shoulders, said she remembered coming to the carnival when she was younger.

"It's family time," Mark Smith said. "And it's the first day of summer at that."

Paul and Fran Sescilla also took advantage of the pleasant weather to spend time with family.

The couple brought their grandsons, Jeremy, 6, and Johnathan, 8, to their third LCHS carnival.

"The first thing (the boys) wanted to do was the haunted house," Fran Sescilla said. "They couldn't wait."

By the looks of things, neither could many of the other youngsters scrambling to seat themselves in the four-person vehicle that moved through the indoor "haunted house" set up on a guided track.

"We have perfect, beautiful weather and lots of smiling faces around," Barry Bruce, chairman of the carnival, said. "I'm hoping it's this way for the rest of the week."

The weeklong event to raise money for the school's athletic department kicked off with a performance by local rock band SugarCoat and a round of fireworks after nightfall.

But before the sun went down, the carnival's many volunteers spent several hours setting up.

"I expect to earn a lot of money for good old Lancaster Catholic High School's athletic department," said Carol Foose, who will be a senior at LCHS in the fall.

Carol said she chose volunteering by working games at the carnival to fulfill volunteer duty required by the school's Good Samaritan program and also to have some fun.

Employees from Rosedale Attractions stepped in to work rides, games and booths.

"I've been with this carnival 10 years," said Bill Hall, who spent much of the night manning Hoop Shots, where he said he likes to give younger kids an extra try or two at the net.

Bobby Pollock, also an employee of Rosedale Attractions, said that although not everyone wins a prize, "everyone is still a winner."

Monica Forte came to the athletic fields Monday night for a more serious reason: to raise money for her son's stomach and intestinal transplant.

After hosting a fundraiser at Saturday's Barnstormers game in Clipper Stadium, Forte joined the ranks of stands lined up on the asphalt at the carnival.

She and volunteers are holding a raffle at the end of the week to raise money for her son Tony, 5, who has Hirschprung's Disease, a rare birth defect.

According to Bruce, the Fortes were a last-minute addition after their success at Saturday's Barnstormers game.

"We have a lot of great community support," Forte said.

tbundy@lnpnews.com