The COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter plans of every sort, and the traditional ways of celebrating Homecoming at Perry High School are no exception.
Perry will entertain Winterset Sept. 25 at Dewey Field for the Homecoming game. Despite being Raccoon River Conference rivals who meet regularly in other sports, the pigskin battle will be the first meeting on the gridiron between the schools since 2005.
The members of the court were announced during an outdoor assembly at Dewey Field Friday. Candidates for queen include Shelby De La Cruz, Ainsley Marburger, Claire Southward, Aubree Tasler and Cindy Truong. King candidates are Riese Archer, Jayson Chavez, Zach Darr, Abner Rivera and Miguel (Pachi) Sierra.
There will be no Homecoming parade, no coronation assembly and bonfire, no Volunteer Day and no dance.
The court will be announced and the king and queen crowned between the underclass and varsity games Friday, with the announcements made sometime around 6 p.m.
PHS Student Council Advisor Brenda Mintun noted the student body will continue to vie for the Spirit Stick and will have themed dress-up days.
Monday will by Moana Monday, with students asked to wear beach attire. Texas Tuesday will follow, with cowboy/country outfits suggested, while Wednesday will be “winter” day, the focus being on an Alaska holiday. “Theatrical Thursday” will see students dressed as movie characters or in Hollywood attire, with the traditional Class T-Shirts to be worn Friday. Freshmen will wear red, sophomores white, juniors black and senior blue.
Perry has traditionally used Homecoming Wednesday as a community Volunteer Day. That has been suspended, with Mintun hopeful the school will choose — if circumstances allow — a week day during the spring semester in which the community service day can be observed.
Each class will decorate a golf cart, with a panel of judges choosing a winner. The carts will be on display during the game at Dewey Field, with the winning cart giving the king and queen a celebratory lap around the field.
The senior class, having raised funds for a prom that was never held, will instead use the funds to help support activities at a Saturday carnival. The fun will begin at 7 p.m. and continue until midnight at Dewey Field.
Seniors only will begin their fun by visiting the Perry Performing Arts Center for a hypnotist performance.
No admission will be charged, and the event is open to Perry students only. Recent alumni are welcome, especially those from the Class of 2020, who had so much of their senior year disrupted by the pandemic.
Those admitted will be allowed to congregate in groups of up to 12, and each such group will be issued a colored wrist band.
There will be a variety of activities and games scattered about the venue. Time allotments will be kept, and each group will move from one area to the next on a rotating basis, thus helping to ensure smaller groups and easier enforcement of social distancing.
A DJ and photo booth will be among the individual areas, as will corn hole, ring toss and other traditional carnival games.
The Perry Booster Club will be offering a free sack meal. Concessions are likely to be available later in the evening.
In the event of foul weather, the event will proceed and will be scattered along the hallways in both the Perry High and Middle schools.
