Everybody Sure Loves A Homecoming Parade
The Noblesville High School Marching Millers perform the school song through downtown Noblesville.
Noblesville High School’s Homecoming Parade on Friday attracted the largest crowd I’ve seen at a Noblesville parade in a long time.
So many Noblesville school families came out to watch the parade. Having such a great turnout just goes to show how much the community needs to hold onto our parade tradition, for Homecoming, July 4, as well as the Christmas Parade.
It was a lot of fun to see the downtown streets filled with families as Noblesville Schools celebrated Homecoming.
Just like at the Noblesville football games, Noblesville High School Dean of Students Jeremy Luna was easily spotted using a megaphone while supervising the crowd, with on-duty Noblesville Police’ NHS School Resource Officer Jason Shonkwiler, as everyone waited for the parade to reach downtown Noblesville.
The Noblesville High School football team waves to the parade-goers during the Noblesville Homecoming Parade.
In tradition, Noblesville Police and Fire departments led the parade. NHS band director Eric Thornbury was right up front, smiling and clapping, as he proudly walked the parade route alongside his Marching Millers band, performing the Noblesville Millers’ school fight song. Band members sported their flashy and stylish black and shiny gold band uniforms, although some senior band members made a fashion statement wearing their senior cords.
Noblesville native and 1967 NHS grad Rickie Woods, who earned Noblesville Miller Fan of the Year more than once and rarely misses a sporting event, was the parade’s grand marshal, riding in a red Oldsmobile convertible.
NHS Millers football seniors were the first of the athletes to appear in the parade as the players rode on the back of a trailer decorated with gold, black and white balloons, and gold tinsel. Then they were followed by NHS junior football players, sophomore players and freshmen players.
The Noblesville High School girls soccer players ride on their float during the Homecoming Parade last Friday.
The soccer players parade entries were easily identifiable with a giant soccer ball on the parade-entry trailers, followed by senior cheerleaders with their megaphones and senior cords, and Noblesville’s cheerleaders riding on a decorated float and carrying their 2017 Indiana Cheer State Championship banner, plus signage on the back of the trailer that read “Through the decades Millers Rock Friday Night Lights.”
The NHS Alumni Association board members, NHS grads Peggy Beaver, Tom Gang, Debbie Bastin and Terri Sigman-Kennedy rode in the black Ford Mustang convertible driven by new board member Charlie McMillan Jr.
From my view, even if I stood on my tiptoes, I could barely see NHS student body president Abby Pittman and student body treasurer Tyler Ashby wave from high atop of a Monterey deck boat being trailered. Student body secretary Elle Newcomer, whose name was posted on the side, also.
A creative NHS Art Club float, was followed by Noblesville Wrestling Club and Noblesville Swim Club and Noblesville Swim & Dive Club with ‘70s costumes and decorated floats. The Spanish Club presented “Running of the Bulls” with students dressed up like bulls. Boys baseball and girls softball teams, girls volleyball and boys volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls rugby and lacrosse, French Club, track and field, golf and soccer and unified track (state qualifier), football and bowling.
The Noblesville boys and girls tennis players, on their floats, held up team members’ faces made onto big head cutouts.
There were lovely individual class floats, student government and the Millstream newspaper, and the NHS Orchestra (promoting their upcoming concert, at 7 p.m. today (Tuesday, Sept. 27); I would guess the concert will have some kind of “101 Dalmatians” theme, which was evident from the parade entry and those walking in the parade. The boys and girls tennis players, on their floats, held up team members’ faces made onto big head cutouts. Cast members in NHS’s “Chicago” musical dressed all in black, promoting the upcoming November show. NHS Singers and New Dimension show choirs also had students walking and riding on decorated trailers. Noblesville Students for Life, a pro-life group that was in the news when its high school-age founder, Emma, was trying to form a club, also made an appearance in the parade with a decorated float in pink and blue pastels.
Some floats and parade entries could have been better labeled as to the name of their group, on not only the back of the parade float but also on the sides of the float, so that parade-goers along the parade route would know what group they were watching.
It was fun seeing all of the students on their floats.
And this goes to show that the community still loves their parades. So why not bring our Noblesville Christmas Parade back to the people.
Contact Betsy Reason at [email protected]