At my high school, the candidates were always a dating couple. Not so here. Folks here are fascinated to learn that. "Really? Wow, why?" is the usual response. I just chuckle, and tell them I had the exact same response when I learned that it's not done that way here. We had that extra bit of drama of making sure the couples did not break up before homecoming. Imagine the inconvenience that could be.
And we didn't just "burn the K", we had a real honest.to.goodness bonfire. I think we took a couple days to build it. If I remember correctly, we saved stuff for it - like tree branches and cardboard, old furniture and odd pieces of wood. It was always topped off with an outhouse. We'd throw an accelerant on it, light it somehow, and snake dance around it. I can also seem to remember lot's of hollering, singing and beating kettles with spoons. (As an aside, we'd be in trouble at home for taking the deer hunting kettles and spoons to the bonfire. Folks in our neck of the woods would drive deer by walking through the woods pounding on kettles with spoons and hollering to scare the deer. But that's a whole 'nother story.)
When I tell that tidbit to folks around here, they are all wide-eyed about it. I don't think the school district allows that bonfire business anymore. I know they don't. They don't want repeats of some of the antics of my classmates who threw gas bombs into the fire, or something equally, shall we say, s.t.u.p.i.d.
And the biggest difference, was that the King and Queen were not crowned until Friday, just before the parade. I think the candidates were announced two weeks before, so there was some heavy campaigning going on.
The King and Queen for this year's homecoming will be announced tonight For the rest of the week they will reign over various activities, including the burning of the K tonight, and the homecoming parade on Friday.
