This past Homecoming week in Bruce and Calhoun City was different than all those in the past for me.
The big difference was I had an assistant for the Bruce events in granddaughter Addi Claire.
She accompanied me to the square Thursday night for the Bruce parade and pep rally.
I love the Homecoming parade. My alma mater of Clinton High School has always held a Homecoming parade with floats and the full works. Clinton High is ten times the size of BHS, so the parade is different, but I still enjoyed the band, homecoming maids, fire trucks and float cirlcing the square. Addi Claire naturally favored the candy that was being thrown.
Joel McNeece
Once the show started on the square she was most infatuated with the cheerleaders. The band is my personal favorite. A few weeks ago, they played a song I had never heard of, but really enjoyed. I asked director Jon Bland about it and he said it’s called “Bang, Bang” and asked if I was not up on my Nikki Minaj? I admitted I didn’t know what/who that was, but loved the song.
I looked it up on iTunes and didn’t care for Nikki’s version, but love the BHS band’s. I may have to get them to cut me a single to add to my iPod, but in the meantime will just continue requesting it every Friday night.
Addi Claire was full of questions throughout the pep rally. Why are they throwing that white stuff at their faces? Why are there two different groups of cheerleaders? What are the football players going to do? What are those flowers (spirit sticks) they’re waving?
I couldn’t answer them all, but thanks to Amanda and Emory Gulledge, Addi Claire went home with a spirit stick, which made her night.
Friday morning I was at Calhoun City where the Wildcat band was just as awesome. The acoustics of the full band inside the gym is something I love. The cheerleaders, football players and excited fans are great, but the band makes the show.
Friday night I was at Trojan Field with my assistant in tow with hundreds more questions. Why do they paint lines on the grass? Why are those players wearing red and those wearing gold? Why are those girls dressed so pretty tonight? Why are the girls sitting on top of cars? What does the queen get?
Thankfully, some of Addi Claire’s BES classmates arrived to distract her for a while, but throughout the first half I would feel a tug on my shirt every so often on the sidelines.
We gave Addi Claire $10 to spend at the game and she made the most of it – two hot dogs, Twizzlers, ring pop, Sprite and more. She doesn’t like anything in her pockets, so every trip she would bring the change back to me and stuff it in my pocket.
It was a different experience covering a homecoming ceremony and high school football game while keeping tabs on a 6-year-old, but I must say I enjoyed it.
I dispensed her last dollar after the final tug on the shirt and took to heart her last comment of the night – “I wish the band would play the whole time.”
I can appreciate that.
Email Joel McNeece at joelmcneece@gmail.com & follow him on Twitter @joelmcneece