Here’s what you need to know about this week’s events
From Staff Reports, Northwestern News
From football to fellowship with friends, Northwestern’s Homecoming celebration will offer several events for students and returning alumni.
The theme for this year’s celebration, which starts Thursday, is “Game On: Ranger 2021 Edition.”
Here’s a list of the events you can check out this weekend.
THURSDAY:
• The Miss Cinderella talent show will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Herod Hall Auditorium.
FRIDAY:
• The “Rally ‘Round the Ranger” Homecoming pep rally will take place at noon at the Ranger statue. The event is open to the public, and pizza will be served afterward.
• A co-ed softball game in which alumni from the university’s baseball and softball teams can participate will take place Friday at 7 p.m.
• The Miss Cinderella pageant will take place at 8 p.m. in the Herod Hall Auditorium.
SATURDAY:
• The annual Ranger Run, which is a 5K race or one-mile “Fun Run,” will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday in Alva’s Downtown Square. Fees for the events are $15 for the 5K and $10 for the Fun Run. Race-day registration will be $5 more. Pre-registration also can be completed in person at the J.R. Holder Wellness Center. The Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association will partner will the J.R. Holder Wellness Center for the event and will provide T-shirts to runners.
• Also at 8 a.m., foundation workers will set up a tent and serve free doughnuts, coffee and hot cocoa to alumni across from the Rialto Theater in the Downtown Square. The foundation will sell T-shirts, Homecoming buttons and other Ranger-themed merchandise, including spatulas and Christmas ornaments. The foundation will give away free Ranger sunglasses to children.
• The annual Homecoming parade will take place in downtown Alva starting at 10 a.m. A reception for Linda Tutwiler, the parade marshal, will take place at 9 a.m. at the alumni tent.
• After the parade, lunch will be served on the square. Each meal will cost $6. Lunch will be served directly across from the Rialto Theater.
• At 1:30 p.m., past members of the Northwestern President’s Leadership Class will have a reunion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the class.
• At 2 p.m., alumni who are participating in the alumni band will rehearse in the band room on the third floor of Ryerson Hall. Dr. Mike Knedler, who retired from Northwestern in June 2015 after 32 years as a Ranger, will direct the band.
Knedler also served as dean of humanities and social sciences, and before leaving Northwestern, he led the School of Arts and Sciences.
• The football game with the University of Arkansas at Monticello is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Ranger Field.
• After the kickoff, a drawing will take place from among the numbered Homecoming buttons. The winner will be announced at the game. The winner, who must be at the game and produce the winning numbered button, will receive $500 in Alva Chamber Bucks.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Homecoming buttons, designed once again by Angelia Case, academic projects assistant/media specialist at Northwestern, are the main source of funding for the celebration. Buttons can be used for admission to Miss Cinderella events and the football game. Some local merchants will offer discounts to those who wear a button into their businesses.
A full calendar of events and is available at www.nwosu.edu/homecoming.