Parade and pep rally kick off Decatur homecoming

DECATUR — On Friday morning around 8 a.m, freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors gathered in the parking lot at the Decatur sports complex with but one goal in mind, to build a better float.

Throughout the morning, these students used their imagination to come up with a float with a 1990s theme in honor of the Decatur High School Class of 1991 which celebrated its 30-year class reunion. By 12 p.m. the floats were complete and ready to roll out to the lineup area at Decatur City Hall.

At 1 p.m. cars bearing the queen candidates, floats, and the high school band and cheer team arrived in the parking area at Decatur City Hall for the official kick-off of the 2021 Decatur High School Homecoming celebration.

Meanwhile, on Main Street below, the east sidewalk was lined with children from Northside Elementary who were bused over just to see the parade. Decatur Middle and High School students made the short walk down Roller Ave. to the four-way light to support many of their classmates and the Bulldog football team as they passed in review.

With the parade ringing the city hall building, Chief Steven Grizzle and the Decatur Police Department, followed by Chief Jeremy Luker and the fire department, rolled onto Maple Ave. and, with sirens blaring, announced the parade was on the go.

The Decatur varsity and junior high school teams were the grand marshals for this parade. They were followed by the cheerleaders and then the floats and finally the band.

For many in the crowd, this was the first opportunity to meet the homecoming court. Leading the procession was freshman maid Lindy Lee, followed by sophomore maid Valeria Chiquito, junior maids Abbie Davis and Autumn Pembleton, and finally the queen candidates Lilly Lee, Aaliyah Kumbera and Jayden Bartlett. Crown barriers Cooper Wilkins and Emilyn Bell brought up the rear.

The Class of 1991 float, which was the first to arrive for the lineup, took up the tail-end position.

The homecoming parade only lasted about 10 minutes, but the memories it leaves with students, teachers, staff and townspeople will last a lifetime.

At Peterson Gym, final preparation for the pep rally was underway. At 2:30 p.m, the Decatur cheerleaders worked into their routine as the band began to play the Bulldog fight song. Cheerleader Bianca Arana served as the master of ceremonies, while her teammates organized the three events that took place during the 45-minute festivities.

During the pep rally, members of the cross country, volleyball and football teams were introduced by each sport’s head coach.

Each maid and queen candidate walked across center court among cheers from classmates.

After a dance-off between students in each class, the junior high and varsity teams met on the court for the traditional homecoming classic tugof-war. With the junior high team outnumbering the varsity, it should have been an easy win. But as the little war progressed, the football coaches jumped in on the varsity side. Still, it was not enough and the junior high team took the win, a strange sign of things to come later that afternoon.

After the conclusion of the pep rally, the attention turned to the two tasks ahead, the varsity and junior high football games against the Midland Mustangs.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS The “Back to the ’90s” float built by the Decatur High School junior class makes its way up Roller Ave. on its way back to Peterson Gym Friday afternoon. The junior float was one of four constructed for the Decatur homecoming parade which passed through downtown Decatur.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS The Decatur Bulldog varsity and junior varsity football teams serve as grand marshals for the 2021 Decatur homecoming parade which passed through downtown Decatur and ended at Peterson Gym Friday afternoon.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS The Decatur Bulldog junior high football team pulls hard in an effort to derail the varsity team during the Decatur homecoming pep rally at Peterson Gym in Decatur Friday afternoon. In spite of the growing number of coaches jumping in to help the varsity team, the junior high team won the tug-of-war contest.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS The Decatur High School marching band turns the corner at the four-way stoplight in downtown Decatur Friday afternoon during the 2021 Decatur homecoming parade which started at city hall and ended in the parking lot at Decatur High School.

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Bulldog football coaches jump in to help the varsity football team as the larger junior high team begins to pull them over the line during the 2021 Decatur homecoming pep rally at Peterson Gym in Decatur Friday afternoon.