Family and friends gathered on John Burnham Jr.’s front lawn as the crisp autumn air blew through Third Street. Parents and alumni reminisced about their college days as children ran around in various shades of red.
As the Homecoming Parade floats made their way down Third Street, parents watched their children run for candy. Burnham, owner of Bloomington’s Burnham Rentals, grew up in Bloomington and attended IU in the early 1980s.
His Third Street property is now occupied by various tenants, but used to be home to his family and annual IU Homecoming Parade parties.
The IU Alumni Association and Student Alumni Association are working with sponsors IU Credit Union and Hoosier Ride to bring back the IU Homecoming Parade after a year-long hiatus.
The parade will take place at 6 p.m. Friday and will begin on Kirkwood Avenue and end at the intersection of Indiana Avenue and Seventh Street.
Anissa Hatton and Victoria Culver, part of the
committee organizing the parade, said they are both
excited for the parade this year.
“One big change with the Homecoming parade is that the route has changed from previous years,” Culver said.
“We wanted to bring the parade closer to home,” Culver said regarding the locational change. “We thought we might as well just bring the parade closer to our audience and make it a little bit easier for them to engage us.”
Unlike parades of the past, this year’s parade will not have a grand marshal.
Notable grand marshals in the past include musician and former IU professor Todd Rundgren in 2011.
The parade will have five student and two community entries that include floats and walking displays, Culver said.
Hatton said the student groups include IU Outdoor Adventures, IU Habitat for Humanity, Union Board and the National Residence Hall Honorary.
There will be a cash prize for the winning floats in each category.
“There was a lot of backlash after the cancellation of the parade, so we’re really excited to be a part of the group that is bringing it back,” Hatton said.
It is important to the student body to be able to celebrate school spirit with the parade.
Culver got involved with the parade as the graduate adviser for the Student Alumni Association, where she helps to advise the students and organize events.
Hatton is part of the five-student committee organizing the parade.
She said she got involved with the parade because of her past parade experience.
“My alma mater, Vincennes Lincoln High School, has one of the biggest high school Homecoming celebrations in the nation, and I assisted in organizing that parade all four years that I was there,” Hatton said.
A pep rally ran by IU Athletics will take place at Sample Gates following the parade, Culver said.
The parade may be taking a different route this year, but Burnham fondly recalls memories of past parades.
“The thing I liked the most about it is the fun that everybody had,” Burnham said. “The kids running all over, watching everyone’s faces when they threw the candy … I loved the general camaraderie of all of us being together and everyone having a good time.”
