Lincoln:Looking for something to do

[Eric the Red]

Homecoming festivities take to the streets

 

By the Lincoln Journal Star

 

Grant Jacobsen and Morrel Wax were young children the last time a full-fledged Homecoming parade made its way through the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Now they’re co-chairing the return of a tradition.

 

For the first time in nearly 20 years, a parade complete with the Cornhusker Marching Band, floats, royalty finalists in corvettes, cheerleaders, mascots and other entries is part of Homecoming festivities at UNL.

 

The parade begins tonight at 6 o’clock at 14th and Vine streets. The route will take the 15 units, representing student organizations and residence halls, east on Vine to 16th Street; south on 16th to R; then west on R to 12th Street, where the parade will end. Each of the six floats and the walking units will have some form of illumination.

 

Jacobsen, a 19-year-old sophomore in chemical engineering, said organizers are hoping for a large crowd, from campus and the city.

 

“We’d love to have as much public participation as possible,” said Jacobsen, a Lincoln East High School graduate.

 

The parade route will be closed to traffic for about an hour, starting about 5:55 p.m.

 

Jacobsen said people coming to campus for the parade can use nearby city parking garages or park along streets east of the campus.

 

Before or after the parade, visitors can view the annual lawn displays at fraternities and sororities along 16th and R streets. The displays were to be completed by mid-morning today, with judging at noon.

 

Why and when the parade tradition took a hiatus is a little unclear.

 

Jacobsen said he understood streakers and fire hazards were among the causes. “The university was fed up with it” and was having a hard time “maintaining a civilized parade,” he said.

 

According to Journal Star files, the Homecoming parade route included downtown O Street until 1988 when it was confined to campus. By 1991, the parade had been reduced to a “jammie parade” but the weather froze out most would-be participants.

 

Thoughts of reviving the tradition began last year when Jacobsen and Wax were part of UNL’s Freshman Campus Leadership Associates group. FCLA surveyed campus organizations and got “pretty good feedback” about renewing the parade, Jacobsen said. The UNL student government then formed a parade steering committee, led by Jacobsen and Wax.

 

Wax, also 19 and a sophomore studying international business, said he is “excited about bringing something great back” to campus. The Omaha Northwest grad hopes the parade will get students and other fans “revved up” for Saturday’s football game.

 

Theme for this year’s Homecoming has been “Cornhusker Carnival: Under the Big Top.” In addition to the parade, lawn displays and Saturday’s halftime crowning of the king and queen, festivities have included a banner contest, fun run/costume contest, a block party, blood drives and a karaoke contest. A pizza party and pancake feed — serving until 2 a.m. — were planned Thursday night as Greek houses scrambled to complete the lawn displays.

 

Students also voted Thursday for Homecoming king and queen from among these 20 finalists, all seniors (candidates, hometowns, majors):

 

King — Jason Lowe, Ainsworth, mechanical engineering; Matt Connolly, Elkhorn, management; Russell Swan, Grant, business administration; Mike Stafford, Kearney, finance; Philip Boucher, Lincoln, molecular pathology; David Solheim, Norfolk, environmental studies and international studies; Craig Johnson, Omaha, biological sciences and psychology; John Wood, Omaha, political science; Jason Villalobos, Seward, construction management; Adam Goll, Tekamah, business administration.

 

Queen — Ashley Hejny, Geneva, food science and technology; Jenny Green, Grand Island, advertising; Jodi Schreurs, Grand Island, biological sciences; Kristin Liebig, Kearney, secondary mathematics education; Andrea Abel, Lincoln, secondary special education; Laine Norton, Lincoln, news-editorial and history; Kim Shubert, Lincoln, biological sciences; Jackie Cecetka, Ord, mathematics and biology; Kristin McCann, Sioux Falls, S.D., English; Amanda Wiltgen, South Sioux City, secondary special education.

[Eric the Red]

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