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Old tradition given new life
By Lori Steinhauer
Of the Emerald
No brass band will strike up a
tune for visiting alumni, nor
will a Cougar replica smolder in
a blazing bonfire as in the past.
Nonetheless, this year
Homecoming will make its way
from scrap books to city streets.
And after more than a decade
of lying dormant on the shelf.
With only the Homecoming
football game to whisper an an
nual commemoration to Univer
sity alumni, the traditional
spirit has been rekindled for the
second year in a row.
A snake dance, a light parade,
and a pep rally are all part of a
toast to alumni, students and
community members in Eugene
this week.
Homecoming is ‘‘a chance to
get a little bit of nostalgia (and)
pride,” says Mary Hud
zikiewicz. University director
of community services.
But while the purpose re
mains the same the traditions of
the 1980s don’t match up to
Organizers of the 1940 Homecoming obviously thought big. in
the true spirit of yesteryear. The spirit waned during the 1960s
but is making a comeback.
those of the past.
In 1909, about 600 alumni
hitched a ride on a train at stops
on the way from Portland to
Eugene, to be greeted at the
train station by a brass band for
the first official Homecoming.
The events of the first celebra
tion — the Friday night bonfire,
followed the next day by the
Homecoming football game and
luncheon — snowballed in to an
annual extravaganza. By the
late 1920s and early 1930s the
luncheons attracted up to 4,000
alumni, says University Ar
chivist Keith Richard.
Bonfire scrap piles were
guarded by freshmen so rival
students didn’t light them
prematurely. Burning a replica
of the other team’s mascot and
rallying enthusiasm the night
before the Homecoming game
was a tradition that lasted until
the city of Eugene passed an or
dinance to stop outside burning
in the 1960s.
The bonfire with the most
lasting impression was built in
1917, standing more than 40
stories high, according to
Richard, and burning for three
nights and two days.
The noise parade brought the
thundering Homecoming thrill
in the mid-1940s. Flatbed
trucks loaded with “anything
that would make noise’’ would
blast down a charted path in the
University vicinity, Richard
says.
"We got so loud we blew out
some windows downtown,"
Hudzikiewicz recalls.
Floats could be heard roaring
through the streets during
Homecoming week until a 1070
city noise ordinance put an end
to the noise parade. But the
parade made a more peaceful
reappearance last year in the
form of the Town and Gown
Light Parade.
Crowning queens and
holding dances became, the
Homecoming highlights of the
1950s, when sock hops and
beauty contests attracted large
crowds. A sign contest among
Greek houses, dormitories and
co-ops also was popular. "The
signs were very elaborate, with
lights and music, and that to
many alumni signifies
Homecoming,” Hudzikiewicz
says.
But with the anti-*
establishment fervor of the
1960s. Homecoming was no
longer cool. Students just
couldn’t groove on tradition
and school spirit — not with
thoughts of liberating the world
on their minds. Furthermore,
choosing a Homecoming queen
did not jibe with the aims of the
burgeoning women's liberation
movement.
"Homecoming — Kill and
Bury it. Or Give it a Shot in the
Arm,” headlined a Nov. 18,
1967, Emerald editorial. And
buried it was for the next 16
Continued on Page 6B
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