Homeland Security Head Attends Nazareth High Graduation

Nazareth Area High School graduates got a visit from Homeland Security Tuesday.

It's really not as sinister as we've just made it sound.

Rather, this is simply a case of a visiting aunt seeing where her niece works and getting some ice cream at Bank Street Creamery in Easton.

Only in this case, the aunt was Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of homeland security.

Napolitano's niece, Sarah Haunstein, has worked at the Bank Street ice cream shop for a few years, said Lynn Wallen, the store's owner.

Haunstein's brother was graduating from Nazareth Area High School Tuesday night, which was what brought the secretary to town.

Napolitano had a Secret Service detail with her. Wallen knew of the visit a few days ago, but kept quiet.

"They didn't want a three-ring circus," she said.

The secretary sampled two flavors: Hungarian torte and Mexican Chocolate Diablo. The latter is a spicier flavor, Wallen said, but speculated that Napolitano, who lived for years in the Southwest, would be used to it.

Napolitano served as governor of Arizona for six years before President Obama picked her to run the Homeland Security department in 2009.