University of Wisconsin La Crosse - La Crosse Yearbook (La Crosse, WI)

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a group of students who would walk down Main Street in Columns of four to the theater. Some students carried torches to light the way and there were small pep tallies on street Corners along the way. The culmination of the mad rush was, of Course, a free movie. But what would Homecoming be without a queen! The first Homecoming Queen was crowned in 1937. Until 1974, the court consisted of only women, but after that year, men were also selected to Homecoming royalty. The Hanging ofthe Lantern and the Lighting of the . I are the longest running Homecoming traditions at UW-L. The Hanging of the Lanr tern, began in 1931 and .was started by O. 0. White, a UW-L English professor. lle wel- comed the UW-I. alumni back with these words We'll hang the lantern in the old College tower over the south door. You won't need your key, the door will be open. The Lighting of the .l' on Grandad's Bluff was started in 1955. It was lighted on the first night of Home- coming and remained lighted until the week of festivities ended. M IORWAV 13m 1509 l The main event of any Homecoming is the ' football game. La Crosse won its first Home- coming game against Lawrence College, 14-91 - Greg Behrendt we 1' I Q. R A Dan Novak Photos on opposite page: Homecoming floats in the Twilight parade. This page Top: King Dan Nievinski and Queen Carlyn Nicholas. Left: A Couple enloys the festivities. Above: A group around the bonfire in llixon Forest - Bob Hammerstrom 23

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22 Celebrating by LanternTs Light Homecoming is a tradition many people look forward to each year and the students at UW- La Crosse are no exception. UW-L celebrated its 62nd Homecoming during the week of OC- tober 8-13. It was everything people expected and more. UW-L's first Homecoming was held in 1923. In those days it was the in thing to invite alumni back to their alma mater. Dances and banquets were held for both the alumni and the students. As time progressed, new events were added to the Homecoming festivities. The hobo parade was a big event featuring the men from campus parading through downtown La Crosse. This eventually evolved into the Twilight Parade. A bonfire and pep fest were 350 introduced in the 1920's. After the bonfire, students would Rush the Rivoli, a local movie theater. This was basically e Greg, Behtendt :1 w Huh Halmnerstmrn

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Football wasn't always part of the Homecoming tradition, however. During World War II, wom- en's field hockey took the place of the football game because there were only twenty-nine men enrolled that year. Another part of that unusual Homecoming was the dance in which soldiers from Fort McCoy were brought in to serve as the dancing partners for the women. Since the 1984 Homecoming celebration is a year of tradition for UW-L, the Homecoming theme, By Lantetn's Light, brought back many traditions from yesteryear and started many new traditions. The events centered around the Hanging of the Lantern and the Lighting of the L on October 11. - Joel Schnell P atteville defeate ; ,, - Joel Schnell