Homecoming is underway, and today’s action begins the stretch to Saturday’s big football game. Silly games, sponsored by the Student Programming Association, will kick off the day’s festivities with inflatable games in the Quadrangle. The homecoming court, as well as various campus organizations, will ride through Thibodaux in the annual homecoming parade, and the bonfire will immediately follow.
When the action and fun start rolling on Thursday night, silliness and a little mayhem is almost expected to occur. According to Deborah Raziano, alumni director and homecoming chairman, funny situations are always present during homecoming week.
“The funniest situation in my experience was for the parade,” Raziano said. “The Ag. (agriculture) club was participating in the parade and are always a big plus to the parade. They’re agriculture majors and they know about all kinds of equipment, but on their float they always have a generator to keep their music going.”
“Well this one year, I guess their generator was running low on gas, and so they just poured gas into that hot generator and we had a fire. And I thought, ‘Of all the groups, the Ag. club should know better than that.’ After I had time to get over my nervousness and being upset with them, I decided that it was pretty funny.”
With their special week booming with action, homecoming court members are more than excited to experience all that homecoming has to offer.
“I can’t wait for homecoming,” Jenny Johnson, homecoming court maid, said. “I’m so honored to be on it in the first place, and I know homecoming week is going to be incredible. I’m really looking forward to the parade because that has always been my favorite homecoming event.”
The homecoming parade and bonfire is a favorite homecoming event for many, but some never stop to realize how far back this tradition travels.
“I’ve been employed at Nicholls for almost 23 years and a student prior to that and it’s always been,” Raziano said. “I know the parade and bonfire, historically, have always been on the Thursday. The parade has taken on different routes, but for the past five or six years now we have gone through Thibodaux. The bonfire has also been in many different locations, but we are trying to keep it in the same place to avoid scarring the earth.”
The parade will feature homecoming court members in convertibles and organizations in decorated floats and trucks. At the bonfire there will be hot dogs and drinks sponsored by the Student Programming Association and alumni. Nicholls’ new privatized housing company, La Maison Du Bayou, will also provide cotton candy.
“I guess one of the biggest things I would like would be for more community involvement,” Raziano said. “We already have good community involvement, but we’re never satisfied. We always want more. So I encourage people to come out and support our students.”