Homecoming…the great American tradition. According to several hits on Google, the tradition of homecoming started in Missouri when Mizzou’s Athletic Director invited all alumni to ‘come back home’ for the football game in 1911. Some say that homecoming dates back to the late 1800s with the Harvard/Yale football game. Whatever the case may be, homecoming still dominates high schools and universities across the nation today. The main focus for all homecomings—to reconnect with people and places.

We certainly did just that! We reconnected with places and people and what a great weekend it was! Time flies by when you are having fun – and we did! Homecoming is always a blast. As one alumnus tweeted today: What a fun weekend in Marshall for @SMSUStangs homecoming ’14. Great seeing the friends again. Makes me miss Marshall a lot! What a blast.

Between the two of us, we hit just about every event. Wish you could have been here with us at all these great activities:

University Gala Ball: Our first major discussion between the two of us was how to pronounce gala. GA-la long a or gah-la short a? It doesn’t matter…from our pre-gala gathering to the silent auction, exquisite dinner, live auction, and finale of dancing the night away, this event raises dollars for our SMSU students. What a fun way of contributing to SMSU scholarship funds and being able to hang out with friends.

First Annual SMSU School of Education Alumni Event: Calling all Education Alumni: Donuts, coffee, and apple cider were served along with a sign-up for the $50 dollar door prize to our book store. Congrats to Mrs. Howie who was our first ever door prize winner this year. Who will it be next year?

Parade: The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for a parade. Our students participated in the parade to support the Education Minnesota Student Program (EMSP) Organization. The theme of this year’s homecoming was “Rise of the Mustangs” so as future teachers, we tweaked the saying to “Rise of the Future Mustangs” and many little ones rode on the float with us.

 SMSU Tailgating Festivities & Football Game: Inflatables, food, and fun! Great chance to see friends and a great American football game. This is how it all started after all! By the way – the Mustangs beat the Upper Iowa Peacocks 28-25. (A little birdie told us they were undefeated before this game.) Way to go, Mustangs!

Dueling Pianos: Just in case we didn’t have enough celebration and fun – the SMSU Alumni Association hosted 176 Key Dueling Pianos at the Mercantile located at Bello Cucina. All who came to join the fun received a glass mug with the homecoming logo – Rise of the Mustangs. Great keepsake and reminder of a memorable time had by all!

Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony: There were many student-athletes recognized at the annual awards ceremony. These student-athletes have earned great athletic and academic achievements this past year, and represented SMSU well. Important to note there were 72 scholar-athletes recognized for their academic scholarship. This was the largest group of student-athletes in a year to ever to be recognized at SMSU for their accomplished studies with the highest average GPA.  We are proud of them!

 Soccer Match: With the sun shining, why not catch a soccer match?! It was a bit windy, but the Mustangs won 2-0 against U of M – Crookston. We did not grow up soccer players, but those ladies seem to sure know what they are doing. Wow – can they run!? We were wiped just watching them. 

Vacuuming: The last event for the weekend was not grading or school work. It was… vacuuming. It was the grand finale to “coming home” for the weekend after being out and about for most of it. We disputed this event because only one of us did this. 🙂  “Vacuuming can wait ‘til later…much later! “ –Wendy’s words of wisdom (Don’t worry, Mom, I was the one who vacuumed! –SV)

There were so many wonderful homecoming events to attend; this list identified just a few as we could not physically make it to all of them. We are pleasantly exhausted. We do need to leave you with a final homecoming remark, however.

Happy Homecoming everyone!  🙂 Enjoy your time –wherever you are. Remember it is the people and places who make all the difference in life. Now – it is time for a nap! 🙂 

Stay Calm & Lead On!
Profs ~ Dr. C. & Dr. V.