Sunday marked the start of the University of Idaho Homecoming festivities with the royalty candidate announcement. Here’s what you need to know about the rest of this year’s Homecoming Week.
Thursday: Blood Drive, Vandalize Campus
The “69th Annual Blood Drive” will be back from 10:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the TLC Lounge. The Red Cross will be there, ready to draw blood, which will be given to those who need blood transfusions. Teams will pick up their bags for the food drive and collect donated items. Each team will gather in the VandalStore with their food items. Teams will then measure how much food they collected.
Hailey Stewart | Argonaut
Students paint the windows of The Storm Cellar in downtown Moscow for Vandalize Moscow Tuesday afternoon.
Friday: Serpentine and more
“Vandalize Campus” will begin at 1 p.m. Serpentine, a march though campus, will starts at 8 p.m. on the Vandal Golf Course.
“The marching band will lead students down Nez Perce, take a left and walk down Greek Row, and then turn left down 6th Street and walk past the residence halls,” said Bailey Storms, Serpentine committee chair.
Students are encouraged to join in the procession as it passes. Serpentine will end at the Kibbie Dome parking lot in preparation for the bonfire. After students arrive, the Homecoming committee will step up on stage and introduce themselves. Those on stage will deliver a speech to prepare students for Saturday’s game.
“It’s unique because it’s a pump up to the game and it’s a pump up for the parade for the next day,” Storms said. “We stuck to tradition. Everyone can expect Serpentine to be the same as it has always been.”
After Serpentine, there will be a bonfire at 8:30 p.m. in the Kibbie Dome parking lot. The two winning homecoming royalty candidates will be announced there, along with the top six candidates, said Amy Fink, committee chair for Homecoming royalty.The “Latah Credit Union Fireworks Extravaganza” will start at 9:15.Once the Fireworks are done, at 9:45 Theophilus Tower will have a synchronized light show with music called “TowerLights.” This year they are put on by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).
Saturday: The Fair, Parade and GameFrom 7 to 10 a.m., the Moscow Fire Department will host the “Moscow Firefighters Annual Pancake Feed and Safety Fair” at the Moscow Fire Station. Community members are encouraged to join the Fire Department for their fundraising event and receive information about fire safety.
Community members can also enjoy the “110th Annual Best Western Plus University Inn Homecoming Parade” at 10 a.m. on Main Street.
“The parade takes place on Main Street in downtown Moscow. It starts near Mingles and ends near Maialinas,” said Alexis Murray, the Homecoming Parade chair. “There will be a wide variety of groups in the parade. From Greek houses, local business, cheer and dance teams, to candidates for the upcoming elections.”
The Grand Parade Marshall this year will be Jerry Kramer, a University of Idaho alumni and former professional football player for the Green Bay Packers.
“We were able to get not only a local celebrity, but a well-known NFL hall of fame athlete to return to his alma mater and its really amazing to see how excited people are about this,” Murray said. “I encourage students to attend the parade and join the Moscow community. The parade brings people from all over Latah county and nearby towns and cities as well.”
Homecoming Week will wrap up at 2 p.m. with the Homecoming football game against Southern Utah University.
For more information on Homecoming events, times, and locations visit uidaho.edu/homecoming or visit the Homecoming Week Facebook and Instagram pages.
Brianna Finnegan can be reached at [email protected].