Vandegrift High School’s gearing up for its annual Homecoming parade, set to take place on campus at 6 p.m. Oct 23. Students, teams, and faculty feel excited to showcase their float themes and celebrate the spirit of community and camaraderie.

“My favorite part about being in the Homecoming float is just being with my friends, being with the whole team, and just enjoying the atmosphere,” senior golfer Alex Mata said. ”I mean it’s something that a lot of schools don’t have. Having the closeness our team has is something other teams don’t have.”

Each year, the different sports teams compete against each other for the best float. They all strive to have the most creative design and best quality. Sports choose different themes like pirates, Barbie, or cereal, all themes from previous years. Students dress up according to their theme, and some meet up outside of school to decorate their float.

“We are doing a cars theme. I think we have the most niche theme, and it relates to our sport. We take a few days, get some guys together, like some girls too, and we all work together at someone’s house,” cross country and track senior Hudson Haley said. “It’s a good team builder, and I think, so far, looking at it, it’s the best one. I’d be surprised if anyone could beat ours.”  

In addition to the sports teams and various clubs, the Homecoming court features freshman, sophomore, and junior princes and princesses, along with a senior king and queen. They ride in golf carts in order of seniority.

“I think it may be childish, but all the candy that I get to throw or get to pick up off the ground, and I like it when you are walking by and there are actually a lot of people,” varsity soccer senior Jason Panoff said. “During COVID, there weren’t many, so it’s really nice that now, again, there are a bunch of people around, and it’s exciting.”

Students who participate in the parade are told to bring in bags of candy to throw at the kids. Every year you can see tons of candy all over the floor, where the parade has passed through even after kids have picked most up.

“[One of the best parts is] throwing candy to the kids and giving back to the community,” senior basketball player Brady Aman said. “I remember running out across the field in the parade last year, which is cool because we don’t play on a field.” 

Elementary students who play football or do cheerleading also have their own float in the parade. Some middle schoolers get invited to walk alongside some specific floats, like the theater float.

“This year, we are going to build a cage and a sign that says do not feed the wrestlers,” wrestling head coach Coach Muck said. “Last year, we built a WWE wrestling ring and the kids dressed up as WWE characters. I thought that was cool.” 

Parents are a big part of making this possible. Some teams like golf and soccer have the parents put together the entire floats while they help with a few finishing touches. Parents are also the ones who pull the floats usually in trucks or other cars. 

“I’ve liked it more every single year, because I have felt more a part of Vandegrift each year, so that’s why it has been more exciting,” Panoff said. “So, I think my senior year now, for the first time, I get to be on the float for soccer, because I’m a senior, and this being my last Homecoming in Vandegrift, it will probably be the best, most exciting one.”