ALLEN — Flatbed trailers and convertibles filled Allen’s main street on Wednesday night as Northern Heights High School students and fans celebrated Homecoming 2009 with a parade.
Heights will take on Lyndon High School on Friday night, leading to floats that celebrated various ways to beat Tigers. The sophomore class float, which urged fans to smoke the Tigers, took first place. The freshmen urged everyone to spay or neuter their tigers, and juniors set up an electric chair to torture tigers.
Filling out the 27 parade entries were Homecoming king and queen candidates, veterans and other groups, like 4-H clubs, volleyball and cross country teams, high school and junior high bands and the North Lyon County fifth- and sixth-grade football team along with the Heights team.
By the time the senior float and high school team closed out the parade — ahead of the horses — students had found time to run back to jump on floats. Riding multiple floats is a tradition in the parade, as spectators watch band members — who start the parade — run back along the route to jump onto class and team entries.
After the parade, the crowd gathered at Allen’s Jones Park for a free hot dog feed sponsored by the booster club.
Friday’s schedule of events includes a hamburger and bratwurst dinner beginning at 5:30 p.m. to benefit the after-prom activities and crowning the royalty before the 7 p.m. kickoff of the football game.
The king and queen candidates are Alex Gadino, Kyle Gragg, Ethan Grother, Joel Young, Jessica Dhority, Kaylee Eklund, Jasmine King and Elizabeth Smith.