At 5:30 a.m. Saturday, Hannah Fluhler can be found in the Muncie Central High School parking lot making sure chalk markers are visible and everything is set for participants in the Homecoming Parade.
Fluhler is the parade chair for the Homecoming Steering Committee and must make sure that every band, float, car and group is in the correct spot and ready to march.
The parade is “an integration with the Muncie community and the Ball State campus,” Fluhler said, and is filled with a wide variety of groups, businesses and clubs from throughout the community.
“Ball State plays a large role in the Muncie community and vice versa, so having an event where the two parade through the city and campus together works as a great way for the community to express their pride in Ball State tradition,” Fluhler said.
Catherine Burgess, the president of the Homecoming Steering Committee, said the parade is a popular event many people take advantage of to promote their business, organization or even Girl Scout or Boy Scout troops. Because the event is so popular, Burgess said the committee had to raise the prices charged to be involved in the parade.
This year, it cost $100 to have a float and $75 to have a car or walking group in the parade. All of the money raised this year will go toward next year’s Homecoming budget.
The parade will march from Muncie Central High School to North McKinley Avenue and will pass a panel of judges on the corner of McKinley and University across from Two Cats Cafe.
The judges range from university employees to Ball State alumni and rank floats based on various categories including how well their float goes with the theme, Cardinals Around the World, originality and enthusiasm.
Both Fluhler and Burgess encourage the community to catch the parade and all of the hard work that has been put into it before they go to tailgate or enjoy other Homecoming festivities.
Contact Collin Beresford with comments at cberesford@bsu.edu.
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