Members of the Blytheville High School Class of 1980 posed last Oct. 6 for a group photo during their reunion just before entering the Greene County Tech-Blytheville homecoming game at Haley Field that evening. BHS Student Council sponsor Casey DeFord stated that reunions by the classes of 1978, 1988, 1993, 1996 and 1998 have already scheduled reunions, which will start with tailgating activities Friday just outside of Blytheville Middle School and continue through the weekend. The Chickasaws will host Valley View for homecoming Friday night.
By DAVID COOKE
Blytheville Schools PR Director
After losing two of their first three non-league games to begin the season, the Blytheville Chickasaws have rebounded in a big way to post an unbeaten mark in the AAAAA-East Conference. One weekend from now the Chickasaws will entertain Valley View in their annual homecoming game. And judging by the excitement of the Blytheville High School students toward both Homecoming and the week’s events preceding the showdown, Haley Field will be the place to be Friday night.
Homecoming Week officially kicks off Tuesday morning at BHS, with school out Monday for Fall Break, and student council sponsor Casey DeFord is eager for her students to assume leadership roles regarding several of the happenings at their school. “I’m excited for the student ownership shown during Homecoming this year,” DeFord stated. “It’s awesome to see students owning school pride, stepping up to organize events and proud of being ‘Chickasaws.’”
The Homecoming Week theme is “Our Time to Shine”.
Spirit days, with the students dressing similar to the persons they feel most connected with, will start Tuesday morning with “Sadie Hawkins” clothing, in which the boys will dress like girls and the girls dress like the boys. Wednesday is class color day, with students donning the clothing of their classification; seniors will wear the color red, juniors orange, sophomores yellow and freshmen blue. “Twin” Day” is Thursday, and the students and their “twins” will dress alike. What’s more, they will have to show a photo of their first-period “twin” to their teacher to receive points that will help determine which individual class receives the “Spirit Stick”. Students will wear maroon and white clothing for “Fired Up Friday”.
An automobile furnished by Jackie Riggs will be set up on the parking lot just to the east of the high school Tuesday morning, and students will be able to exact revenge on the junk car, with the Student Council selling hits with the sledgehammer for one dollar per swing. The automobile will remain on the BHS campus through Friday, and late in the afternoon will be available for viewing at the parking lot in front of Sears and just across the street from Haley Field.
The powderpuff football game, in which the girls will play three flag football games and the boys will serve as coaches and officials, will be Wednesday at about 1 p.m. Admission will be one dollar per person, with the money being used by the council members for expenses related to Homecoming and the prom next spring. The games will feature the seniors versus freshmen and the juniors versus sophomores, with the finals pitting the two winners.
Ford went on to say that each of the classes will be responsible for decorating a BHS hallway, with various community individuals to judge the hallways Friday morning. The seniors will decorate the “300” hall, juniors the “400” hall, sophomores the “500” hall and freshmen the new wing of BHS.
A student-staff basketball game will be Thursday afternoon, and in what has become a school tradition seniors on Friday will beat the Chickasaw drum throughout the entire day. The homecoming pep assembly will be Friday in the BHS Gym at approximately 1 p.m., which will include the presentation of the maids and their escorts and the crowning of the homecoming queen.
The Homecoming Parade will be Friday at 4:30 p.m., with various students and citizens riding on the the floats, classic automobiles and motorcycles, which begins near Cobb Funeral Home on Main Street. Contact DeFord or parade coordinator Lori Hixson at 740-0664 for more information about the event. School organizations and individuals will begin lining up for the parade at 4 p.m.
The BHS classes of 1978, 1988, 1993, 1996 and 1998 have reunions next weekend, with an abundance of fans tailgating on the BMS east lawn in front of Haley Field about one and one-half hours before the Blazers-Chickasaws kickoff.
Finally, pregame festivities featuring the homecoming queen and her maids escorted by their male relatives will be presented at approximately 6:30 p.m., with the football game to start immediately afterward. The winner of the Homecoming Parade Banner Contest, in which organization members may decorate a full-sized bed sheet representing the theme “Our Time to Shine”, will be announced at the game, and the Spirit Stick winning class will be announced during the game’s second half.
“The teachers have done an incredible job in being class sponsors and helping students bring their spirit to light,” DeFord added. “This already has been an awesome year, and Homecoming will be one way to showcase that.”