On Oct. 6, Dr. Kerri Hart, Student Recreation and Wellness Center director, and her father Dr. Dwain Hart were announced as ACU’s Homecoming Parade grand marshals. The parade will begin promptly Saturday at 9:30 a.m., kicking off the day’s Homecoming events.
Misty Spainhower, alumni relations officer, said that because the parade is this year’s only Homecoming activity with a specified theme, groups have made sure to build their floats in fun and unique ways.
“We have asked them all to create floats that depicted something they love about ACU, calling it ‘I heart ACU,’ something like the ‘I heart NY’ signs you always see,” Spainhower said.
One group, however, will be diverging from the parade theme. Melanie Kirkland, office manager and assistant marketing director for University Park apartments, explained how their parade float will be a little more personal.
“We actually had a really neat idea to do something completely different,” Kirkland said. “We thought it would be cooler to go with the theme of ‘Up’ since [UP] are our initials, so we’ve gone with that and are decorating our float like the movie.”
This is University Park’s first appearance in the Homecoming Parade, and Kirkland said residents are excited about being represented in the parade.
“We are under new management this year, and we really want to be more connected to ACU in different aspects, but we want the ACU community to really recognize that we are ACU, too,” Kirkland said.
In an effort to be more involved with students, Kirkland said University Park will be hosting a car decorating party at University Park immediately after the parade, painting cars in exchange for canned food goods supporting a local initiative called Impact Hunger.
The Homecoming Court from 2001 will also be riding in the parade for the first time in a decade, Spainhower said, because of the class’ 10 year reunion.
“We have a lot of ‘Coming Home’ Queens this year. About 29 convertibles signed up to drive them in the parade,” Spainhower said.
Typically, one Coming Home Queen nominee is paired to ride with a nominee from the current year, but 2001 saw 14 court nominees, which will make the seating arrangement slightly different, Spainhower said.
Spainhower said she believes the greatest value of the Homecoming Parade is that it brings back memories alumni can share with their family.
“It’s one of the first times we get to bring our children back and let them see all the fun we had at ACU,” Spainhower said. “Most everyone sitting on the sidelines remembers how they participated in the parade somehow. Even if they weren’t in a social club, everyone remembers going to the parades and how they helped out.”
“Most people, when they think about the parade, they just think about the clubs, and we really want to change that and be more involved with the students of ACU,” Kirkland said.
Prize money will be awarded to the best floats in a few categories. Men’s and women’s social clubs with more than 50 members will be competing for a first place prize of $200, while men’s clubs with fewer than 50 members will be vying for a $100 first place prize. Other awards given will be an overall first place float prize of $200, as well as an award for sportsmanship and best use of theme, both of which win $100 for the organizations to use at their own discretion.
