H/S homecoming parades

[Hercules10]

I just got off the phone with our local H/S about them having their homecoming parade at 6pm (rush hour) on a weekday. They say that all the high schools in the area do it at the same time (i.e during rush hour).

Are they nutz?

How can the town enjoy this when most of us are stuck in traffic because of the bad timing? They shut down a major street and there are huge back-ups

Anyone else's H/S do this or are we the fortunate few?

 

[Christine]

Our high school does their parade at 4:30 p.m. That is definitely during a rush hour here.

Also, last night at about 5:30, my neighbor was taking our kids to Tae Kwon Do. You have to cut through a big neighborhood to get there. Lo and behold, the high school was having their parade through this neighborhood (which is a fairly major thoroughfare). She said the traffic was a mess.

Whatever happened to having these things early on a Saturday morning?

 

[Pam]

Our high school does not have a Homecoming Parade. Instead they have everyone come to the Friday night football game an hour early. The Homecoming Court then circles the field on the track, riding in convertibles. At half time the Court is introduced and the King and Queen crowned.

The local university tradionally holds their Homecoming the same weekend. They have their parade at 10:00 am on Saturday. The state and local police shut down several streets for around 2 hours.

 

[Hercules10]

Finished talking to the principal. He's says "It's a tradition and I have no intentions of changing it!"

Ooooooooooooooookay. Talking to the city then. Maybe they aren't as entrenched into tradition to pay O/T to their street and police personnel to block off the streets during rush hour.

BTW, when I suggested doing this on a Saturday, they said it would be too disruptive to the kids. I guess they mean it's next to impossible to wake up a teen-ager on a Sat. morning.

 

[Christine]

Finished talking to the principal. He's says "It's a tradition and I have no intentions of changing it!"

Ooooooooooooooookay. Talking to the city then. Maybe they aren't as entrenched into tradition to pay O/T to their street and police personnel to block off the streets during rush hour.

BTW, when I suggested doing this on a Saturday, they said it would be too disruptive to the kids. I guess they mean it's next to impossible to wake up a teen-ager on a Sat. morning.

Well, it might be "tradition" but no one is "traditional" anymore. Most of the kids and parents can't even make it to the homecoming parade because they are commuting home from somewhere. It's not the 1950s anymore where June Cleaver can run the kids up to the school for the parade. I know when our school had theirs at 4:30 p.m., I was sitting in traffic on my way home to pick my DD (who goes to that high school) from her friend's house where the bus dropped her off. I mean, how the heck were we supposed to get there.

Now, I can get there on Saturday morning.

 

[Hercules10]

Most of the kids and parents can't even make it to the homecoming parade because they are commuting home from somewhere.

And THAT was my whole point to the Mayor (yeah I'm writing to the Mayor now). How can anyone enjoy or support their local team by going to the parade if they're stuck in traffic waiting for the parade to pass?

 

[malibuconlee]

Our high school's was always on Thursday evening. I thinkg it was around 6. It was a small town tho. No rush hour, and what you might consider the "rush hour" was closer to 4 o'clock when the factories change from first to second shift.

 

[Christine]

Our high school's was always on Thursday evening. I thinkg it was around 6. It was a small town tho. No rush hour, and what you might consider the "rush hour" was closer to 4 o'clock when the factories change from first to second shift.

Where I live, rush "hour" lasts from about 3:30 p.m. through 6:30 p.m. Trying to go anywhere during that time is a nightmare--then add a parade to that! Sheesh!

 

[Nancy]

We have our homecoming game on Saturday and the parade is before it, so that means Saturday morning! All the kids and parents manage to get up and make it there on time. Traffic isn't bad and everyone has a great time. The parade goes from the school to the football field (which isn't by the high school but way over by the Middle school, so the parade goes maybe 1 mile at the most, but it does go down a fairly main street in the village. There is no way they could do that at 6pm!

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Where I work the parade steps off at 5:30, but from the city building which is only 1/2 mile down the street from the school. We can't do anything on the track anymore either, we have to park the floats off to the side and have our homecoming attendants announced in golf carts--we got a new track 4 years ago and the track coach will NOT allow cars on his precious track. I guess 5 cars and a few floats one night a year would ruin it.
Where I live they just had the first ever homecoming parade, mostly through side streets about a mile from one school to the stadium. It stepped off at 6:30.
The Saturday after the game we have students running CC races, playing in volleyball tourneys....it isn't practical to have it on Saturday morning.
I look at it this way--yes, I have a job--but if it is something important, I will take some personal time. Today I am home 1/2 day because I took a half day to work my kids' Halloween parties at elementary school--I only have 3 more years after this year to see those cute little parades! If I had a child on the homecoming court I would take time off if I had to. If I didn't have a kid involved, who cares about missing it?
Robin M.