Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Delta Chi members chant a military song as they march the parade route. Since the theme for Homecoming centered around movies, the Delta Chis decided to base their jalopy on the film Stripes. Photo by Chris Tucker. The Phi Mu float, ' The Lion King, makes its way down fourth street. Due to the rainy weather, the Phi Mu float was not functioning properly during the parade. Photo by Laura Riedel. Homecoming • 29

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Lights, Camera, Action set tine ee c of celebration Although it rained on the parade. Homecoming reeled in crowds with the theme, Lights! Camera! Action! which paid full color homage to motion pic- tures. Everything from the house decorations to the skits in the Variety Show brought movie and television characters to life. Homecoming was an event which demonstrated the spirit and talent of Northwest students. Movies pro- vided a broad base in which to showcase this talent. The Variety Show got Homecoming off to a start with its first ever professional emcee. Although in past years. Northwest picked emcees from its own pool of talent, a professional was brought in. Comedian Buzz Sutherland kept things going with comedy bits taken from his marriage and his repertoire of six voices including Daffy Duck and a baby. A performer on such shows as Caroline ' s Comedy Hour and Comedy on the Road, Sutherland was use to working with audiences and handling heckling with comic put-downs. I tried to stay really hip and in touch since a majority of my dates were college shows, Sutherland said. It put a lot of weight on my shoulders, but it got easier with each performance. Kristi Hill believed that student emcees would have been a better choice than the professional emcee. I thought it would have personalized it more if students did it, Hill said. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia ' s Fantasy Island was the big hit of the Variety Show, winning best independent skit, overall skit supremacy and the people ' s choice award. Combining singing with visual effects, the music fraternity staged a skit with the Bearcat football team sending Registrar Linda Girard to Fantasy Island. They did this so she could get a break from the pressures of college life and to find her a man. Winner of the previous year ' s award for best actor, Brian Bellof played Girard for the final year. He was unhappy about letting his character go, which he had played for four years, but was happy that it had gained such a huge following. I really enjoyed playing the character and the audience response was terrific, Bellof said. It was a great character and fun to play. I had great respect for Linda. Movie and television takeoffs ranged from older films like Wings of Victory to newer films such as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. The skits had men playing women and women play- ing men. Best actor Ryan Stadlman won for his por- trayal of Victory in Tau Kappa Epsilon ' s Wings of Victory. Playing a stewardess who tried to calm pas- sengers of the Northwest airplane, Stadlman balanced feminity with physical dexterity. I couldn ' t believe it, Stadlman said. I was totally surprised. I thought Brian Bellof would win because he won last year and got the write up. I was in the Variety Show to have fun and make people laugh. Phi Sigma Kappa ' s Maryville, 64468, a takeoff of Beverly Hills 90210, won best fraternity skit and Delta Zeta ' s Northwest Story, a takeoff of West Side Story, won best sorority skit. Olio acts were interspersed throughout the program. Kip Mathew and Marc Jackson sang Worlds Apart. Distinguished Gentlemen, which consisted of Jack- — continued Phi Sigma Kappa ' s Jurassic Parl slowly rolls along Seventh Street dur- i n g the Homecom- ing parade. The float placed first in the highly competitive division. Photo by Chris Tucker. 28 • Student Life

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son, Jeramie Kramer and Joseph Lopez wrote and sang a rhythm and blues song called Mighty Bearcats, an anthem of spirit for the football team. Three Men and a Melody, regular performers at the Variety Show, performed for the last time. They came out dressed as janitors and did the traditional parody of Northwest ' s greenmen. They sang George Michael ' s hit, Faith acapella. The group, which was comprised of Bellof, Chris Droegemueller, Brad Stephens and Michael Troyer, won first place in the Olio acts. Along with skits and music numbers, the Northwest King and Queen were announced at the Variety Show. The seniors were elected from a group of 1 2 finalists for the honor. More than 1,600 students voted in the first campus-wide election held on the computer system. This increased response more than three times the normal number who voted for Homecoming King and Queen. Doug Swink was elected Homecoming King and Shelly Pfister was voted Queen. Both were sponsored by North Complex. Swink thought being crowned King was an honor. It was a very big accomplishment because I was getting ready to leave Northwest, Swink said. It was good to represent the University. House decorations sprinkled the landscape of North- west fraternities, sororities and campus organizations. They showed school spirit by decorating the grounds outside their houses. On Thursday and Friday, many were busy getting their houses ready for the big weekend, cutting grass and trimming bushes as well as finishing up decora- tions. Alpha Kappa Lamda and Alpha Sigma Alpha ' s Ju- rassic Park, based on the Steven Spielberg dinosaur movie, won best house decoration among Greeks and also the award for best overall house decoration. Gilligan, the Skipper and the rest of the castaway crew were not left out as Sigma Society won best house decoration in the independent division. Although rain dampened many house decorations, the results of the effort were worth it. Jake Gronbeck, Alpha Kappa Lamda president, said their winning the year before pushed them even harder. That was why we pushed so hard, Gronbeck said. We had to rush this thing. I didn ' t think we ' d get done in time. We pulled a couple of all-nighters and every- thing just came together. The house decorations were not the only things to be seen during the rainy Homecoming parade. The parade, which included nine floats, 1 1 jalopies, 23 bands and many other entries from various organizations on cam- pus, attracted crowds even though it began amidst a downpour. The rain stopped though and the bands, ranging from the Kansas City area to Maryville High School, played on. Umbrellas and brightly colored raincoats lined the streets as crowds gathered for the parade to watch the multicolored floats and clowns. Candy was handed out and newspapers were offered to parade spectators by journalists dressed as old-fashioned newspaper boys. The rain drenched the participants and faded the signs on cars making some nearly illegible. Bands wore trash bags to keep the rain off them and their instru- ments. One float had three men soaking in a hot tub as rain — continued 30 • Student Life