Teams compete for best float in Nebraska’s largest homecoming parade
By Brett Westfall
Antelope Staff
On Sept. 15, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., people of all ages lined up on downtown Central Avenue to watch amazing floats that represented the best of the Kearney area. From UNK decorative floats to Mason organizations, a plethora of floats showcased their support for everyone in the Kearney area.
Candy flooded the streets, marching bands from Kearney Catholic and the UNK marching band played their hearts out and kids waited anxiously with their plastic shopping bags for more sugary candy.
Tyler Nelsen, Homecoming royalty, said of the event, “It may be different for those that worked on the floats, but I got to ride in a limo with the other students that were homecoming royalty. I know Odwuar Quinonez well and was glad to see him win, and I can’t complain about anything because I got to ride in a limo and then a convertible to wave to people.”
“It honestly felt like I was the king of a country. I was hoping I didn’t need a special wave or anything; it was just so much in a short amount of time, but I wouldn’t change anything,” Nelsen said.
For the UNK floats, this year’s theme was “Circus, Experience the Magic,” in which the floats certainly represented the theme well. The fraternity and sorority life floats, as well as the residence hall floats, contained well-put-together plastic and paper cannons, red and white tents and somestudents dressing as clowns. With so much creativity on display, these students represented their organizations and UNK immensely.
The student in charge of the Gamma Phi Beta, Phi Delta Theta, and Sigma Tau Gamma float, Colton Nisley, a senior from North Platte, said, “It was exhausting. I loved the support during the thirty-minute ride through downtown and seeing all those kids hoping for candy and especially the adults who wave and give shout outs. It feels like the last three nights of working from seven to three in the morning paid off in the best way possible.”
Nisley’s best ideas for the group’s Circus-themed float was a cannon. It was made out of plastic and construction paper, along with a life-sized jack-in-the-box in which a person pops out the top to give kids candy or just to give a good scare. The Gamma Phi Beta, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Tau Gamma float ended up placing first in the UNK float decoration competition, which was scored by UNK staff.
