Homecoming

As the west is rich in traditions, so are the small towns.  In our small town of Salina, the location of our flagship store, Burns Saddlery, we are celebrating Homecoming this week. Hopefully everyone is familiar with homecoming, the tradition of welcoming back former residents of an area or alumni from a school.  I was curious where this tradition originated so I went to my favorite place to find out, Bing and did a search.  Of course Wikipedia was there with an explanation as always.

According to Wikipedia the first official homecoming game was the University of Missouri's 1911 football game in which alumni were encouraged to attend. It was the first annual homecoming centered around a parade and football game (which if my math is correct this is a one hundred year old tradition).  The history leading up to this game, dates back to 1891 when the Missouri Tigers first faced off with the Kansas Jayhawks which is the oldest college rivalry west of the Mississippi.  The intense rivalry took place on neutral sites for many years, until a conference regulation announced intercollegiate football games be played on college campuses.  To renew excitement in the rivalry, ensure a good turn out for the game and celebrate the first meeting of these two teams on the campus in Columbia, Missouri, the athletic director invited alumni to "come home" for the game.  Along with the football game the celebration included a parade and spirit rally with a bon fire.

As with many homecoming celebrations, there are many different activities going on. It is tradition that the classes along with the organizations at the High School paint the windows on the local businesses. 

The cheerleaders generally paint the windows of Burns Saddlery.  They are always so clever and the windows turn out great.

The cheerleaders also make signs for all of those students participating in the fall athletics, football, volleyball, cross country, golf and soccer.  They hang them on the houses of the athletes so everyone knows that it is the "Home of a Wolf".

Stay tuned tomorrow for a run down of the rest of the weeks activities. I love small town life :).