Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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The Pittsburg State University Pride of Ihe Plains Marching Band led the way down the main slreel of Pittsburg during Ihe homecoming parade. Many area highschool bands also performed during Ihe parade and at halftime during Ihe football game. The parade brought many beautiful floais, the sounds of area bands and Ihe entertain men I of clowns and other novelties to the streets of Pittsburg. Cyndi Ranjbar, Pittsburg, Senior, and Lynn Shanks, Littleton, Co., Ju- nior, entertain the crowd gathered along the side of the street during the parade. In the tale, the Wizard of Oz, the lion lacked courage and the scarecrow lacked a brain, however this scarecrow and lion participating in Ihe parade lacked little and showed the true spirit of the fairy tales theme. 14 Homecoming

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Students show enthusiasm at Yell Like Hell Although the Oct. 16, 1986 pep rally started out a little less than enthusiastic, it literally ended up with a bang! About 500 cheering fans showed their support for Pitts- burg State University's Home- coming at the annual Yell Like Hell and pyramid build- ing contest held at Branden- burg Stadium. First, second and third place trophies were awarded in the men's and women's divisions for the best pyramid and chant. The teams were judged on degree of difficulty, chant, audience participation, and enthusiasm by a panel of six judges. The Alpha Gamma Delia sorority sisters captured the first place trophy among the women's teams with a synchro- nized performance, chanting Number one in the state. Each member wore an Alpha- Gam sweatshirt as they moved almost flawlessly into their suc- cessful pyramid. Second place was received by the Vica Cosmetology team. Sigma Sigma Sigma was awarded third place finish. In the men's division, the fraternity brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon walked away with the first place finish chanting, Hold that tiger! After the pyramid was completed, the Sig-Ep banner was handed to the top man, as the bottom row attempted a sort of' chorus line kick. Pre-rally time was spent lis- tening to the PSU band and waiting tor the events to start. After the spirit squad ap- court to the crowd and intro- duced head coach Dennis Franchione. Coach Franchione allowed the members of the 1986 PSU football team to introduce themselves and a few mem- bers took advantage of a live microphone and captive audi- ence. Oscar Epps, Dallas freshman, started to give the fans his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Bruce Stancell, Anderson, MO. sen- ior, introduced himself by sim- ply stating, I'm Bruce Stancell and I play football. Todd Mayhew, Haviland peared cheering, Go Pitt! Give 'em hell!, it seemed to light the initiative spark to get the crowd going. Homecoming queen Stacy Menghini announced her senior, had been asked to say something intelligent, he said. Mayhew encouraged the fans to come on out to a good game. We're gonna kick their ass! Following introductions, a football signed by the football team was presented to Mengh- ini, Frontenac junior. The ultimate finale to the night's festivities inspired ooh's and ah's from the star struck crowd. They were mes- merized by the dazzling fire- works display seen high atop the opposite side of Branden- burg, this being the final salute of encouragement to our win- ning PSU football squad, - Shelli Shipley. No parade would be complete without a clown. Rich Gilmore, Frontnac freshman, represents the Newman Center in the novelty competition of the homecoming parade. Homecoming 13

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continued from page 10 Lowe's Skateway had a huge skate as its float, with a stuffed gorilla in the driver's seat and two other employees manning the skate . Louise McFarland who works for Skateway said that she felt tall sitting in the oversized skate, and that it was fun to have peo- ple looking up to her all the time. Also in attendance was a lo- cal rock band. Stationed on top of a flat-bed truck, the Heaters consisted of Dawson Branden, Guy Walcott, and John Gobetz, who turned out to be the son of Dr. Robert Go- betz from PSU's Dept, of Com- munication. The band played country music, rock-and-roll, and original compositions, right from 10th Street to First Street. They also threw beads to the crowd. They're from the Mardi Gras at New Or- leans! Branden said. The ROTC and Company A of the 891st Engineer Battal- lion, also had a non-competing float made up of an open army trailer, complete with M- 15 and M-50 machine guns and a canon. Mark Woodrum, Battallion Executive Office of the ROTC, and PSU senior, explained about the use of the artillery during the parade and the Homecoming football game. We're going to shoot the machine guns along the pa- rade and my job is to keep the children from getting too close to the trailer. During the foot- ball game, we will fire the can- on at the opening ceremony - 16 shots - and at every touch- down, Woodrum said. KPL Gas Service had a small pick-up which featured the Safety Watch which pro- vides emergency service to the Pittsburg community. Safe- ty Watch's mascot is McGruff, the Crime Watchdog, which sat on the back of the pick-up and waved to the crowd. Besides the floats and other vehicles, there were also many students dressed up as various fairytale characters and walked in the parade. There were the card soldiers from Alice in Wonderland , Cin- derella in rags with her wicked step-mother and step-sisters, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Alladin, and many oth- ers. The crowd that came for the parade were mostly pleased with the line-up. Florence Sharp of Pittsburg, was tap- ping her feet to the band mu- sic. I think it is terrific! I came with my boyfriend, she said pointing to an elderly man, and added, We never miss this. We're here every year! I think the floats are great this year - very imaginative, very beautiful, Susan Powell of Pittsburg said, while cra- dling her grandson. Powell is the wife of Dean Powell from PSU's Dept, of Printing. Meanwhile, the little boy was crying, frightened by one of the colorful but strange- looking clowns who were sell- ing balloons and giving out candy during the parade. The senior citizens of Pitts- burg were not to be left out of the festivities. One of their items featured Harp Choir No. 646. The choir sang while sit- ting in a long horse-drawn cart. The last item of the parade had both the young and the old from riding schools and farms, clip-clopping down the street on their horses of various sizes and breeds. You know why they put horses last? Wodrum from the ROTC asked. That's be- cause they leave droppings everywhere! he laughed. And as the parade came to a close, people could be seen smiling and laughing, and say- ing how much they enjoyed this year's Homecoming Pa- rade, Yap Miow Lin. Members o the Alpha Gamma Del- ta Sorority Lisa Grosdidier. Si. Paul sophomore and Julie Beachner, St. Paul sophomore make there way down the parade route portraying Tweedte Dee and TweedJe Dum from the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland. Mi be Meek. Lousiburg sophomore holds the ball high in celebration of his touchdown reception againsl Fort Hays State in the 1986 Homecoming game. Homecoming 15