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Fighting Scots preparing to 'Break out the Plaid' for 'magical' Homecoming 2009 weekend celebration

10/01/2009

Fighting Scots preparing to 'Break out the Plaid' for 'magical' Homecoming 2009 weekend celebration

EDINBORO, Pa. - In what's shaping up as perhaps the largest homecoming celebration ever at Edinboro University, thousands of students, faculty, staff and campus neighbors are breaking out their Royal Stewart tartan to welcome home Edinboro's many returning alumni.

Starting this afternoon with a special reunion of the Communications Department and continuing through Saturday evening's finale banquet honoring the athletes of the 1950s, Homecoming 2009 offers something for virtually everyone from the very young to the not-so-young.

For example, from the Wee Scot Play Spot near McComb Fieldhouse for the kiddies to the nationally ranked Fighting Scots football team taking on the Lock Haven University Bald Eagles, to special festivities in the Borough of Edinboro to a Classic Car and Bike Show, the homecoming celebration combines the annual autumn tradition with a fair-like atmosphere on and off campus.

Edinboro's business community is sponsoring a number of off-campus events sure to attract crowds throughout the weekend, and a Vendor Festival will underscore the athletic activities at Sox Harrison Stadium.

A highlight of the weekend will be Saturday's "Most Magical Place on Earth" homecoming parade with its Disney theme.  Parade Grand Marshal Herm Tomer, president of the Edinboro University Alumni Association, will help kick off the spectacular event at noon. Welcoming returning alumni home to Edinboro University, the parade will again traverse the campus route, showing off the many new and renovated buildings, along with improvements and construction projects that have taken shape since many alumni were last here.

This year's parade, with more than 100 participating units, including five bands and 11 floats, will be one of the largest in Edinboro's history.  In keeping with this year's theme, participants will feature Disney movies and music, showing once again that Edinboro University is "The Most Magical Place on Earth."

"We're delighted with the high level of participation in this year's parade, and with the many on-campus activities and those planned throughout our community," said Edinboro President Jeremy D. Brown.

"The Homecoming 2009 committee has worked hard for many months to make this the biggest and best homecoming yet. It's a celebration for which the university and the community can take a great deal of pride."

Brown noted that the parade has grown substantially in each of the past several years.

"The campus parade allows the university to show off the many great things happening here," Brown said. "Perhaps more important, it also allows our students to interact with alumni and better understand their own roles as our future alumni."

New this year on the parade route will be the unveiling of the mammoth  "Flying Scotsman," a 35-foot high inflated balloon character wearing a traditional tartan kilt and playing bagpipes.

While all past graduating classes will be celebrated during Homecoming 2009 weekend, particular honors will be paid to the classes with graduating years ending in "4" or "9" as they observe their traditional five-year interval anniversaries.  

Affinity groups representing various classes and academic departments will also meet on campus, march in the parade, and visit various campus buildings open for Homecoming.  In addition, tours will be offered at The Highlands at Edinboro University student housing complex and at the Mike S. Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Center, the region's largest free-standing domed facility.

In anticipation of large crowds, there are plenty of designated parking areas for Homecoming goers, and shuttle buses from the lots to various campus venues.

Another highlight will occur Friday morning when the 18th Annual Alumni and Friends Golf Outing begins at the Culbertson Hills Golf Resort.  The sold-out event represents the Edinboro Alumni Association's largest fund-raiser of the year.

Thursday's Homecoming 2009 highlights include:

  • n 4 p.m. - Six-time Emmy winner Sue Palka speaking to Communications alumni on "Eyewitness Report: Succeeding in the 21st Century Media Marketplace;" Van Houten South Dining Hall; a featured event of the Edinboro PRSSA's 2009-2010 Distinguished Lecture Series
  • n 5 p.m. - Communications Alumni Reception, Van Houten South Dining Hall.
  • n 7 p.m. - Dinner and program to tribute pioneering Edinboro communications professor Dr. Bob Wallace, and the naming of university's television studio in his honor.

Friday's Homecoming 2009 highlights include:

  • n 8 a.m. - 21th Annual Speech-Language Pathology Alumni Conference, Frank G. Pogue Student Center
  • n 9 a.m. - 18th Annual Alumni and Friends Golf Outing at Culbertson Hills Golf Resort
  • n Noon - 3rd Annual Social Work Scholarship Tennis Tournament at Edinboro's main campus courts
  • n 12:15 p.m. - First Friday Concert at the Dr. William P. Alexander Music Center featuring music professor Patrick Reagan on bagpipes.
  • n 5-7 p.m. - Artist Steve Emmett Retrospective opening, Bruce Gallery (Doucette Hall); runs through October 30
  • n 6-8 p.m. - Class Reunions (Classes with years ending in "4" or "9"), and Affinity Groups (Residence Life and Housing, Young Alumni, Tennis/Social Work Group, Minority Alumni Network and parade participants) Reception, Van Houten Dining Hall
  • n 7 p.m. - Edinboro University vs. Gannon University volleyball, McComb Fieldhouse
  • n 7:15 p.m. - Bonfire, behind Sox Harrison Stadium
  • n 7:45 p.m. - Pep rally, Homecoming King and Queen Coronation, Sox Harrison Stadium (rain location, Louis C. Cole Auditorium - Memorial Hall)
  • n 8:30 p.m. - Traditional Alumni Celebration, Culbertson Hills Golf Resort

Saturday's Homecoming 2009 highlights include:

  • n 9 a.m.-noon - Alumni Hospitality Tent, McComb Fieldhouse near Victory Bell
  • n 10 a.m.-noon - Brunch on the Lawn with the President, McComb Fieldhouse lawn (rain location: Van Houten Dining Hall)
  • n 10 a.m.-2 p.m. - Wee Scot Play Spot, McComb Fieldhouse near Victory Bell
  • n 10 a.m.-4 p.m. - Classic Car and Bike Show, Mike S. Zafirovski Sports and Recreation Center
  • n 10 a.m.-6 p.m. - Homecoming Theme Film Festival, Frank G. Pogue Student Center, Scot Cinema, free admission
  • n 10 a.m. - Parade participants line up
  • n Noon - Homecoming Parade, campus loop; Theme: Edinboro University - The Most Magical Place on Earth
  • n Noon-4 p.m. - Alumni Hospitality Tent, Sox Harrison Stadium, northwest corner
  • n 1-4:30 p.m. - Vendor Festival, Sox Harrison Stadium, northwest corner
  • n 2 p.m. - Edinboro University Fighting Scots-Lock Haven University Bald Eagles football game, Sox Harrison Stadium
  • n 5 p.m. - Athletes of the 1950s Dinner, Van Houten Dining Hall

 

The complete schedule of all Homecoming 2009 activities, including campus parking and event maps, can be found online at www.edinboro.edu.  Click on "Homecoming Weekend" under Calendar of  Events and follow the prompts.