Purdue Homecoming festivities to begin Sept. 20
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue's Homecoming events will include a pep rally, parade, fireworks, food, music and a variety of other activities beginning Sept. 20.
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"Homecoming is a wonderful opportunity not just for students, sports fans and alumni to gather, but also for the entire community to celebrate," said Ben Paolillo, interim executive director of the Purdue Alumni Association. "We are offering a wide variety of activities for all ages — from a parade to fireworks to Saturday's pregame festivities — so we encourage area citizens to bring their families over to see what Purdue has to offer."
The week before activities start, student organizations will help get campus in the mood for Homecoming by painting the windows of businesses in the campus area and hanging banners over the Grant, Wood, Northwestern and University parking garages. The groups are encouraged to include this year's theme of "Get in the Game" in their decorations.
The banner and window competitions will be judged by a panel and faculty and staff members on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
A blood drive will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union's East and West Faculty Lounges. The drive is part of the Purdue vs. Indiana University Blood Donor Challenge, and all donations collected on that day will go toward Purdue's total.
On Thursday, a pep rally will begin at 7 p.m. on Slayter Hill. Purdue football coach Joe Tiller will make a brief speech, and the Purdue All-American Marching Band, Spirit Team and Dance Team will perform.
In a departure from years past, the Homecoming king and queen winners will be announced and crowned during the pep rally Thursday instead of at Saturday's game. The winners will be introduced during halftime of the Purdue-Minnesota game on Saturday. Student voting for the king and queen is taking place through Friday (Sept. 15).
Members of this year's Homecoming queen's court are: Ashley Eiler, Lawrenceburg, Ind.; Jillian Hmurovic, Munster, Ind.; Ebony Jones, Chicago; Tara Padgett, Brook, Ind.; Lindsay Scheessele, Newburgh, Ind.; L. Chapin Shearer, Elizabethtown, Ky.; and Kimbre Vogel, Monticello, Ind.
Members of this year's Homecoming king's court are: J.J. Camp, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Ryan Gard, Huntington, Ind.; Andy Eisterhold, Poseyville, Ind.; Akshay Kothari, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India; Chris Kutanovski, Crown Point, Ind.; Brian Petraits, Brownsburg, Ind.; and Joshua Stolarz, Zionsville, Ind.
Festivities continue on Friday, Sept. 22, with a parade at 8 p.m. and fireworks immediately afterward. The parade grand marshal will be Purdue President Martin C. Jischke.
The parade route will begin on Russell Street, head south, turn west on First Street, turn north on MacArthur Drive, turn east on Third Street, head north to Intramural Drive, then end after turning west on Stadium Avenue. The parade will feature floats by student and community groups and will include both walking and motorized entries.
From 9-11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, the celebration on the Purdue Mall will feature more than 30 tents housing displays by colleges, schools, departments and divisions.
Among the displays will be a children's activity center featuring a "big bounce house" with inflatables and an obstacle course, trivia games, animals from the Columbian Park Zoo and a chance to have photos taken with life-size cutouts of Purdue mascot Purdue Pete and football coach Joe Tiller.
Participants at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences tent can receive free blood pressure checks and a "Vial of Life," which participants can keep with them at all times to alert medical personnel of essential details about their health in case of emergency.
Other activities include an interactive game about civility at the Office of the Vice President for Human Relations' tent and rock wall climbing and a sumo challenge at the Army ROTC display. The University Residences tent will offer a chance to play a "Wheel of Fortune"-type game with University Residences trivia, and the Purdue Student Union Board tent will give visitors a chance to meet with the Homecoming king and queen court.
Also, performances by musical groups and other artists will be featured on the stage by the Bell Tower on the Purdue Mall. The Homecoming king and queen will help introduce the acts.
Scheduled to perform are the Black Cultural Center's Black Voices of Inspiration and the group's 78-member alumni chorus, the Purdue Jazz Band, featuring the new Dixieland Band, the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band, the Purdue Musical Organizations Glee Club, a student juggling group and a student unicycle club.
Five area restaurants — Pizza Hut, Subway, Dairy Queen, Sgt. Preston's and Seattle Beanery — will operate the Boiler Food Court, located near the stage.
Also, the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill will be parked just west of Owen Hall from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Students and staff from University Residences will sell bratwurst sandwiches, chips and a bottled beverage for $6, with part of the proceeds going to the United Way. Purdue students who have purchased a University Residences dining plan will be able to exchange one meal swipe for a ticket for the meal at all On the Go locations from Sept. 19-22.
From 9-10 a.m. on Saturday, members of the Purdue Alumni Association Student Ambassadors will provide photographs with Purdue Pete. In exchange for offering feedback about Homecoming events, the group will provide each participant with a photo number that they can use to view and print their photo from the Purdue Alumni Association Web site. Photos also will be taken in front of the Boilermaker Special replica at the Dick and Sandy Dauch Alumni Center.
For the second year in a row, parents can enter their children in the Most Spirited Kid Contest. Children ranging in age from newborn to teen-agers will be judged on who looks the most like a Boilermaker fan. Prizes will be given to winners in multiple age categories, from newborn to high school. All contestants should arrive and sign in at 9:15 a.m. at the children's activity area, and judging will take place from 9:30-9:45 a.m. The winners will be announced at 10:10 a.m. by Rich Cruz, president of the Purdue Alumni Association, just before Purdue President Martin C. Jischke takes the stage.
The festivities will end with the president leading Purdue's "All-American" Marching Band and Purdue alumni and friends to Ross-Ade Stadium for the noon game kickoff.
Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purrdue.edu
Sources: Catharine Adair, Homecoming committee co-chair, (765) 496-2160, cadair@purdue.edu
Chad Johnson, Homecoming committee co-chair, (765) 494-2603, chadj@purdue.edu
Nicole Reas, Homecoming committee co-chair, (765) 496-6193, nreas@purdue.edu
Margie Stoltz, Purdue Student Union Board program adviser, (765) 494-8907, mcstoltz@purdue.edu
Ben Paolillo (765) 496-6241, bjpaolillo@purdue.edu
Robin Shanks, manager of Elliott Hall of Music, (765) 496-1381, rshanks@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web site:Purdue Homecoming activities
Related news release:
Homecoming king, queen candidates announced
PHOTO CAPTION:
Purdue President Martin C. Jischke, left, and his wife, Patty, lead the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band in the trek to Ross-Ade Stadium during last year's Homecoming celebration. This year's events will feature a pep rally on Sept. 21, the Boilermaker Night Train Parade and fireworks display on Sept. 22 and the Celebration on the Mall from 9-11 a.m. on Sept. 23 before the noon kickoff of the Purdue-Minnesota football game. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
A publication-quality file photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2006/homecoming05-jischkes.jpg
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