Weather rains on IU's parade

A rainy and cold Friday afternoon forced organizers to cancel IU's annual homecoming parade and pep rally.\n"It was a very tough decision for them because they've worked on this for months and then have nothing to show for it," said Mike Mann, chapter president of the IU Alumni Association.\nSondra Inman, adviser for the IU Student Alumni Association, said she had to make the call early Friday morning to cancel the homecoming traditions after realizing the chance for rain was 100 percent.\n"We had record of what had happened in the past and knew that if it was raining, it was not going to be a good parade (and) it was not going to be a safe parade," she said. \nThe Residence Halls Association and National Residence Hall Honorary combined efforts to build a float and spent more than 25 hours working on it, said senior Daric Wickstrom, vice president of the IU chapter of the residence hall honorary.\nThe two groups re-created the statue of Venus on Showalter Fountain out of chicken wire, then covered it with papier-mache and spray paint, Wickstrom said.\n"I was confident that we could have gotten first place in the float contest if it wouldn't have been canceled," Wickstrom said.\nThe 14-foot reconstruction debuted around Bloomington on Friday evening, without the rest of the parade behind it, Wickstrom said. Though the group was disappointed, he said he wouldn't have expected many people at the parade if it had taken place as scheduled.\nThe IU Student Foundation focused its efforts on receiving first place in Thursday's Yell Like Hell pep rally, IUSF President Elliott Chapman said. The Black Student Union received first place overall in homecoming events competition.\nThough IUSF couldn't use its float in the parade, the group still enjoyed the window and banner painting competitions and garnered a second-place finish in homecoming festivities overall, Chapman said.\n"There was a lot of enthusiasm and spirit, and everyone was really excited and looking forward to the weekend," Chapman said.\nThe weather also put a damper on tailgating at the IU versus Michigan State football game. Cars weren't allowed on the grassy field that's often filled with tailgaters during football games.\nCampus Crusade for Christ had to cancel its tailgating festivities that were expected to draw about 100 people, staff member Dave Fladung said.\n"The fields were closed to vehicles due to rain," Fladung said. "It would have been just a ton of work to try to get stuff in there."\nDespite the cancellation of the parade and pep rally Friday, IU's victory over Michigan State on Saturday afternoon seemed to mitigate the disappointment from the lack of events Friday.\n"We put most of our effort into the float, and that was how we were hoping to win homecoming," Wickstrom said. "But the game was fantastic, so I won't complain"