No town does homecoming quite like our town does. The whole town comes together to celebrate one of the few things we can agree on, and that is cheering for the Pioneers. An almost religious observance, the entire town reigns football as king. The biggest thing that separates our homecoming tradition from the rest is our amazing floats.
Every year, seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen are pitted against each other in a tradition as old as time itself. We have seen everything from guitars to tractors to giant toilets. In under a month, we are tasked with turning a trailer into a carnivalesque masterpiece. Our plans of construction become top secret; “If I told you, I would have to kill you.”
We students step into one of these work meetings and are met with the intoxicating smell of aerosol spray paint and the sounds of convivial talk and power tools. We are given a job, many of us tasked with rolling tissue paper into small balls called pomps, a word we will learn to despise.
We apply thousands of these onto the float, one by one, until we have finished. It isn’t easy work, but with enough hands we make it work. Homecoming approaches as every class races to finish the biggest and baddest floats. We go to the game, root for the Pioneers, and wait nervously for halftime. Halftime comes, the floats are paraded around, and we watch silently as the winner is told.
Floats are one of my favorite traditions, and I believe nothing symbolizes our small-town heritage quite like it. This friendly competition gives every class a sense of amiable animosity, and gives us memories we will never forget. I’ve heard every float should be good this year. As a junior, it has been incredibly difficult to write this impartially. All I will say is, competition will not be easy this year. May the best class win.
Warren County High School student Rylan Lorance is writing columns this school year for the Standard.