One of the great fall traditions at high schools, colleges and universities is the annual celebration of Homecoming.
Perry’s football opponent Friday for Homecoming 2015 will be Algona. No freshmen game will be played Friday; varsity will kick off at 7:30 p.m.
A whole series of events and activities will be held leading up the game, with the traditional Homecoming Dance to follow.
One of the longest-held traditions for Homecoming celebrations is a parade, something Perry has not hosted since 2007.
The reasons are many and varied, with sound arguments on both the “return the parade” and the “here is why it is not happening” side of the issue.
Sixteen schools were recently surveyed by ThePerryNews.com (results below) asking how they celebrated Homecoming in their communities. Each school surveyed holds a “Spirit Week” similar in nature to Perry’s, in which students dress in differing attire, participate in various activities, and so on, and all hold some style of pep rally and king/queen coronation.
Perry High School is unique in holding a “Volunteer Day” and is joined only by Gilbert in hosting a bonfire, while Panorama was the only school contacted that did not have a parade.
ThePerryNews.com is encouraging the public to speak out regarding Perry’s lack of a parade. We are seeking constructive suggestions: If the parade is to return, how should it be organized, and who should organize it? On what day of the week and at what time should it be held? What route should it follow?
If you think the return of the parade is much ado about nothing, is not worth the hassle or is better replaced by the current activities or something as yet not tried, let us know those thoughts as well.
We ask that the discourse be civil, as the goal is to bring the school and public together to celebrate our pride in our community and school.
You may reply on our Facebook page but, if we may, we would like to suggest you submit your responses on our website. Opinions may also be emailed to: theperrynews@gmail.com.
School* Parade Coronation Dance Bonfire Windows**
ADM YES THURS SAT NO NO
Algona YES FRI FRI 1 NO
Ballard YES THURS SAT NO YES
Bondurant-Farrar YES MON SAT NO NO
Boone YES FRI SAT NO 2
Carlisle YES THURS SAT NO NO
Carroll YES THURS SAT NO YES
Dallas Center-Grimes YES THURS SAT NO NO
Gilbert YES THURS SAT YES NO
Greene County YES FRI 3 NO YES
Humboldt YES FRI FRI NO NO
Ogden YES FRI FRI NO YES
Panorama NO WEDS SAT NO NO
Webster City YES THURS SAT NO NO
Winterset YES FRI SAT NO NO
Woodward-Granger YES THURS SAT NO NO
——————-
Perry NO THURS FRI YES ??
- — List is taken from current Raccoon River Conference teams, district football opponents and three area schools. North Polk did not answer repeated requests for information.
** — Denotes the decoration of downtown/area business windows. Perry was undecided for this year; all schools do some sort of school window or classroom door decorations.
1 — Algona has an outdoor pep rally, but small fire pits are used instead of a bonfire.
2 — Boone students are allowed to decorate the pavement on four streets surrounding the football field; business windows are not decorated by students, though some do so on their own accord.
3 — Greene County does not have a Homecoming Dance; a post-game “Stand Around” for students is held in the parking lot.
Jeff Webster,
There is SO MUCH I want to say about the above article, but sometimes it is best to keep quiet. The one thing I will say is after realizing you will not SHUT UP about Perry not having a homecoming parade, I am asking you to organize it. You create a float. You find volunteers. You make it happen! We always had parades and homecoming parades when I was a kid, but back then there were floats, not trailers hauling kids. There was time spent creating beautiful, fun, artistic floats. There were bands. There were horses, many horses by the way, candy, clowns and the list goes on and on. But maybe when I was a kid we had more free time, more time to create a parade. No cell phones, no videos, we didn’t have as many sports, musicals, and activities as kids do today. The busy lives we all have make it difficult to find the time to do more. So, Jeff, I challenge you to organize, volunteer, lead and create a homecoming parade! It is easier to complain than it is to make a positive difference. Jenny