Rain doesn’t dampen MLHS Homecoming 2002

It rained almost all day on Friday, but when it came time to line up for the 2002 Homecoming Parade, the skies brightened and the rain stopped. And although the cold temperatures brought out the coats and mittens, as least it wasn’t wet.

Friday’s events capped a week of Homecoming festivities that included both junior and senior victories in the Powder Puff football and He-Man volleyball class competition, the crowning of King and Queen Jon Couette and Jacki Vandergon, a big crowd for the Homecoming dance, a week of dress-up days, pep rallies and sports contests (which are covered on pages 8 and 9 in this week’s Messenger).

The annual Homecoming Parade featured 16 units, led by the Maple Lake Fire Department and deputies from the Wright County Sheriff’s Department.

In a parade first, the female members of the Homecoming court were treated to rides in convertibles. And in the absence of football players Couette, Ryan Finke, Darin Decker, Jimmy Hartfiel and David Biegler, who were preparing for the game against Rockford, fathers filled in as escorts for their daughters. Queen Jacki was accompanied by her father, Mark; followed by Brandi and Dale Decker; Mary and Ted Pribyl, Brittany and Greg Mooney, and Vicki and Joe Hruby.

The Irish band, under the direction of Tony Mazzone, rode in style on a flat-bed donated for the afternoon by T.J. Potter Trucking. And completing the 5 p.m. parade were floats prepared by the MLHS seventh though twelfth grade classes and judged by Nancy Stremick of Security State Bank, Mike Happ of the Maple Lake Recovery Center, and Harold Brutlag of the Maple Lake Messenger. Winning top parade honors was the senior float, followed by the ninth grade float in second place and the eighth grade float in third.

A new addition to the Homecoming festivities was the “Smash the Car” fund-raiser sponsored by the Student Council. For a fee of $1, participants could take their best shot with a sledgehammer at the car donated by the Karen Leahy family.

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