'Homecoming' dates to the Early 1900's as a way to Invite Alumni back to the school
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This past week Chinook and Harlem High School each celebrated Homecoming week complete with themes for each day, a pep assembly the naming of the royal court and of course the big football game on Friday night, but how did the tradition first get started? Since the early 1900's it was a ccustom for colleges and universities to celebrate homecoming with their alumni football game.
The Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks played in 1891 in what was called the 'Border War' the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi. The game originally was held in a neutral location but soon the NCAA required intercollegiate games to take place on college campuses. To celebrate the first meeting between the two teams on the Missouri campus, the Athletic Director invited all the Alumni to 'come home' for the game. Scheduled with the game was a week full of celebration culminating with a parade and of course the Border War Football game. When nearly 10,000 Alumni 'came home' and took part in the parade and spirit rally the tradition quickly took hold.
Other Universities claim to have played a game of this type earlier, Baylor in 1909 and Northern Illinois in 1903 the Border Game is given credit by the all-important trio of the NCAA, Trivial Pursuit board game and of course Jeopardy! Through the years schools have made all kinds of changes to the celebration to make them their own, but the core idea remains the same. Week full of activities, a parade and the game. Not to be excluded though is the Royal Court which was soon incorporated into the event.
For our local Homecomings the Sugarbeeters theme was 'Lights, Camera, Homecoming' with movie and television genres such as Westerns, Action, Sci-fi and Horror themes being incorporated. "Homecoming week was a fast and furious event this year due to it taking place the third week of school and right after Labor Day," said Pep Club Advisor Faith Hoffman. "Beeter Buddies was brought back after a two-year absence. High school students were paired up with elementary students on Tuesday and Wednesday. They ate lunch together and played at recess too." At Harlem Schools the students had a different theme for each day leading up to the parade and pep assembly on Friday. Tuesday was 'Pajama/Sweats Day', Wednesday was 'Pink Day', Thursday was 'Jersey Day' where students and staff were encouraged to wear their favorite team jersey. Friday was 'Wildcat Day' with everyone decked out in Maroon and White.
The Parades included the newly crowned Homecoming King and Queen and the entire Royal Court as well as class floats, the Color Guard and pep band. Friday night's game in Harlem featured the Wildcats handling Rocky Boy 54-8. In Chinook it was the Sugarbeeters topping the Shelby Coyotes 40-18. The Sugarbeeter volleyball team was home on Thursday and Saturday for matches with the Fort Benton Longhorns and Highwood Mountaineers. The Lady Cats hosted Rocky Boy and Glasgow. In the end it was a fun filled Homecoming for both schools.
Be sure to check out next week's paper for more Homecoming Fun Pictures.
