Chilly temps, warm memories at parade
Jennifer Ditlevson Haglund
Sisters of the Phi Mu sorority watch for the signal to join the parade down 4th Street Saturday morning. They led one of the groups of Village People. None of the papier-mâché head have eye holes, so dancing clowns must be led through the street.
While waiting for the Northwest Missouri State University Homecoming parade to begin, members of the Nepalese Student Association danced to traditional music, but it wasn’t because they needed the practice.
They were trying to keep warm.
For many of the Nepali freshmen, like Sandhya KC and Subhechha Rijal, Saturday was the coldest day they had ever experienced because they moved to Missouri in August. Several young men wearing suits and black hats featuring pins shaped like khukuri blades, a traditional Nepalese knife, fared better than the women in sheer shawls and lightweight skirts.
Junior Sandip Subedi said the group of students had already showcased their dancing skills at other programs at the university. Shila Bhandari, who is a second-year graduate student, added that no one had to prepare because Nepali people learn to dance as soon as they can walk.
In the morning chill, small children wrapped in blankets and winter coats rode in red Radio Flyer wagons to watch the parade while older youngsters raced down the sidewalk with empty Hy-Vee bags ready for stashing candy handouts.
SSM Health St. Francis Hospital wasn’t going to add to their sugary bounty. Marching hospital employees handed out small bags of carrots.
“We are a health organization, after all,” said Sonya Stickelman, who works in St. Francis’ payroll and accounting section.
While parents may have been pleased with the healthy handouts, “The kids, not so much,” said Vicki Thompson, an outpatient counselor for mental health services.
Audrey Osborn of Maryville sat on the curb with her two sons, but couldn’t talk much because she said she was afraid of losing Jack, her oldest, to the action in the street.
“He loves the marching bands,” Osborn said.
Outdoor heaters warmed special alumni areas that quickly filled with people sipping drinks and eating hot dogs.
“I (once) wore tights as Sir Lancelot and it was snowing. This isn’t that bad,” said parade watcher Rick Nielsen.
Nielsen, of Cleghorn, Iowa, said he thinks he’s only missed two or three Homecoming weekends since graduating in 1972. He returns annually to Northwest to spend time with college friends.
While studying French at the university, Neilsen got to know Steven Cottrell, then a language lab assistant. The two became friends and still meet each other every year at Homecoming. Both belonged to the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.
Neilsen and Cottrell, Kansas City, are part of a group of alumni who gather every year at a friend’s house after the parade.
“We sit and talk over old times and then go home,” Nielsen said.
Their friend, Kay Carey of Mount Ayr, Iowa, graduated in 1972. She still remembers long hours spent working on floats when she belonged to Gamma Sigma Sigma and what it felt like to finish at 2 or 3 a.m.
“And then we couldn’t wait to tear them down,” Carey said.
More than 40 years later, today’s students can still relate to Carey’s experience.
According to the sisters of Phi Mu sorority, their float construction team only got 27 minutes of sleep early Saturday morning before lining up. The float featured Bobby Bearcat playing the piano since this year’s theme was Rockin’ Around the Bell Tower.
Other floats, jalopies, and dancing clowns paid homage to pop acts like Madonna, The Beatles, KISS, Katie Perry, and Rush.
Jennifer Ditlevson Haglund
A group of Nepali students pause for a selfie during the parade on Saturday. The group shared their national dance along the route.
