We turned the calendar over to October this week. With the new month, we have been seeing more and more fall colors, a brisk coolness is in the air, and, at the local school, it was Homecoming Week. Thinking back to my own days of Homecoming back in the early 70's, lots of memories came to mind.
There was always a contest between classes to come up with a float for the Homecoming Parade. The students spent evenings at the Sports Arena stuffing napkins into chicken wire which had been formed into some type of football theme. Queen candidates were selected from the Junior and Senior Class girls, and a campaign ensued with signs covering the walls of the school to entice votes. Typically, all the Senior football players where the King candidates. A football game against a rival team would hopefully culminate in a win, followed by a bonfire to celebrate, and possibly a Homecoming dance.
Each day of the week was assigned a special "theme". Usually one of the days was an "oldies day", which meant we were to be dressed like students of the 50's. Fast forwarding to when my own kids were in high school, the "oldies day" meant digging out my box of "memory clothes" so my kids would have something to wear! What precious memories!
Over the past 10-20 years, Homecoming had become rather ho-hum. No longer were there parades, and the bonfires had long ago been deemed too dangerous. Crowning of the King and Queen was always a big production after the football game, with the girls dolled up in fancy dresses, and the guys looking sharp in a shirt and tie. This was fine, but gave them no time to "reign" as the events of the week were behind them.
Enter our new high school principal. He brought with him some ideas. . .or perhaps better stated, he brought back some of the old ideas in a new way. The King and Queen were crowned early in the week, giving them a full week of being royalty. A group of students headed downtown to decorate the store windows.
On Friday, a parade was held, featuring a color guard, law enforcement vehicles, the football players decked out in their maroon jerseys, and a float with the royal court. Behind was the rest of the student body, minus those in the band, which was assembled in front of the courthouse to play the National Anthem (no knees were taken) and the School Song. Several local businesses also provided floats, and smiles were plentiful as this "first time in many years" parade took place on a beautiful day of sunshine.
In the evening, the team came away with a 36-6 win at the football game, and a dance took place in the school parking lot. It is safe to say the students filed away their own set of precious memories to look back on 40+ years from now!
It was also a different kind of Homecoming week. Yesterday we laid to rest a man who, with his family, had been our nearest neighbors on the farm I lived on from ages 10-19. He was the last of my dad's generation of farmers who kept the township acres producing crops year after year. One by one, their farming was taken over, usually by a son, and some have even been handed down yet another generation. Somehow it seemed fitting to have his funeral just prior to the Homecoming Parade, as I thought of the heavenly gathering of farmers who had welcomed him to his eternal home.
Finally, this afternoon, we received news of another death. In my closest circle of friends from school days, there were six of us. All but one of us have lost both parents, and the sixth only had her mother still living. Today, she joined us in the "orphan club" as her mother had her heavenly homecoming early this morning.
Looking back, my eyes filled with tears as I processed the news. This mother had been hostess to many a gathering of friends "back in the day", always with a kind and loving heart. With a family of seven kids of her own, she never minded having the "extras" thrown in. Blessed be her memory!
As I look at the events happening in our world, I can't help but wonder if the "Final Homecoming" trumpet will soon be blown. Since none of us knows the day or hour, it is best to always be ready. Are you? If not, open your heart to receive the free gift of salvation God offers us through the death of His only Son on the cross, which was miraculously followed by an exciting Resurrection Sunday. If you are among those who believe, don't sit idle. According to 2 Peter 3:9, the Lord isn't willing that any should perish, and it's up to us, as His modern day disciples, to spread His Word in our hurting world.
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