On Saturday Sept. 21, eye-catching posters, decorated cars and color coordinated groups of people lined up on Clinton Street in preparation for Brockport’s Annual Homecoming Parade.
The parade route started from Clinton Street and moved down Main Street, before taking a right on Monroe Avenue and ending on Utica Street in front of Hartwell Hall. While the parade route itself was short, the impact and importance of the event was not diminished for the groups that were involved.
A few campus organizations involved in the parade included the Brockport Admissions Ambassadors, Brockport Dance Team (BDT) and Student Dance Organization (SDO), Greek Life, Xylophone-Percussion Ensemble, Sociology Club and many more. The theme for this year’s parade was “Color Wars,” so each organization picked a color and came out in full force to represent their group on the streets of the village of Brockport.
The combined forces of BDT and SDO embraced the color of “brat green” inspired by the cover of Charli XCX’s most recent album, “brat.” Bella Otero, walking with the organizations, emphasized how homecoming weekend is important to her.
“I’m really excited to see the [dance] team perform during halftime, it’s fun to see my friends out there on the field. It might be my last year here, so I’m going to try to do everything I missed out on before,” Otero said.
Senior year was a big theme at this homecoming parade, with many students echoing the sentiment that they wanted to take in everything they can before they graduate in the spring. Another one of these students is Sociology Club officer Bella Markarian.
“This is my fourth homecoming, it’s bittersweet because it’s my last one. But I just love the environment and the way that everyone comes together. Homecoming is just the best time of year, honestly,” Markarian said.
Fellow Sociology Club officer Madison Brown had similarly positive things to say about the events lined up for the weekend.
“I’m a sophomore so this is my second homecoming. I love how school-spirited everyone is and the way everyone makes up one big group at the end of the day is really fun,” Brown said. “Go Brockport!”
Brockport school spirit was the uniting cause for many as they lined up for the parade and prepared for the rest of the events SUNY Brockport had set up for the next two days. Many were excited for the carnival, the fireworks and most notably, the homecoming game.
Kate Poss walked in the parade with her sorority Phi Sigma Sigma, and seeing the football game with her family was one of the main things she was looking forward to during the weekend.
“I’m most excited for homecoming because my family is coming up, and we love a good football game. I don’t get to go to the Brockport football games that often because I’m really busy, so I’m excited to see the one today,” Poss said. “Hashtag fly eagles fly!”
No matter what specific part of homecoming each student was excited about, the parade was successful in hyping up the student body and fostering the Golden Eagle pride in all of us.
