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Pittsburg State University kicked off Homecoming day with the traditional homecoming parade. The parade was held in downtown Pittsburg, at 9 a.m. Saturday Oct. 19.
“I think it shows that this community is what you make it so it can be as big or as little and if you want to come out and get involved Pittsburg has open arms to just about anybody,” said Bec Timmermeyer, senior in sustainability and resource management.
The parade went down the entirety of the downtown area and was met with students showing school spirit as well as community members and alumni coming to show support.
“It was cool, I wasn’t really prepared for it and it was really cool to connect with all the people in GAB because we’re all already friends but it was cool to hangout with them outside of a meeting setting,” said Skylar Michelle, senior in psychology.
The community is highly involved in events PSU puts on, especially homecoming. Community members came to show support by watching the parade and others participated in it.
“I came out because it’s my last year and I wanted to see all of my friends and see the community,” Timmermeyer said.
The fire department and police department as well as Crawford County girl scouts and the historical museum participated in the parade. PSU’s marching band started the parade off with the color guard and cheerleaders. Many marching bands from surrounding schools also marched in the parade such as PHS, Frontenac, Girard, and Commerce high school.
“The best part is watching everybody so amazed at what we do, like when we turn around and we do different tricks and stuff and when we toss it when we’re marching, it’s cool just to see them kind of in awe of what we’re doing and seeing the little kids decked out in their Pitt state gear,” said Hailey Denton, sophomore in psychology.
PSU’s outstanding alumni were celebrated in the parade along with the Pitt’s family, who was named honorary family at the family day game. PSU, who was also celebrating 100 years of SGA, had a float in the parade to celebrate current and alumni SGA members.
“I love this parade, I was born and raised in Pittsburg so I have gotten to go to this parade every single year since I’ve been here and I just remember watching the band go through standing on the sidelines and now that I finally get to do that with them it’s really cool, it’s a really cool experience..,” Denton said. “…I love it it’s so much fun just to see like the people that I know that are there to enjoy it and just to perform a little bit but also just supporting the city and our school.”
Student organizations participated in the parade with floats they made for the competition. Fraternities and Sororities showed off their floats as well as their homecoming nominees. Other organizations also showed off their nominees such as the dance club and GAB.
“It’s really cool because I was looking around and it seemed like there were a lot of people in the parade so I was like who’s actually going to come see the parade since everybody’s in it but then there are so many people that show up to it so it was really cool to see everybody come together in the community,” Michelle said.
The international students walked through the parade as well with signs, some were dressed in traditional clothing from their countries.
“That’s one thing that’s really unique about Pittsburg, is how much of a community presence we have not only within the school but within the town and vice versa, it’s really awesome to see such a huge outlook at the parade and just how many people have come out to support it..,” Denton said. “…I just think it’s so important as a community to come out and support those things and I think it’s really cool that we live in one that they do, so as much as the school puts into the city the city puts into the school.”