Logan Domer
ltd001@marietta.edu
COVID-19 did not stop Marietta College from creating a safe and entertaining Homecoming week for its community. The Pioneer Activities Council carefully developed a packed week of events for the Homecoming court and others to participate in. Each day had a different competition planned for the Homecoming candidates to take part in trying to win points for their individual campaigns and the organization that they represented. The Homecoming candidates were: Breck Baker – Delta Tau Delta, Jeremy Booth – Alpha Tu Omega, Katie Conkle – Women’s Soccer, Alex Dimon – Lambda Chi Alpha, Hannah Garofalo – Women’s Golf, Kelsey Hall – Sigma Kappa, Kaitlin Kobuszewski – Track and Field, Beth Lebar – Alpha Xi Delta, Kylee McBride – Cheerleading, Dan McCartney – Brother 2 Brother, Jackie Mulvain – Chi Omega, Robert Nelson – Football, Kara Stults – Athletic Training, and Ellen Vichill – Women’s Basketball. These candidates participated in events all week, including pumpkin painting, trivia, decorative tables, creative posters, a cornhole tournament and a final announcement of king and queen after an intersquad soccer scrimmage. The week kicked off on Monday October 12th, starting with a pumpkin painting contest. The individuals running for homecoming were asked to use their artistic skills and paint their pumpkin any way that they wanted to. This event was open to anyone on campus who wanted to participate, and there were free pumpkins for people to grab and paint. There were no points awarded in this event, but it acted as a start to an eventful week for Marietta College.
Following the pumpkin painting, Tuesday consisted of a competition that tested the participants’ knowledge. It was a trivia game, which was conducted through a website called Kahoot, that allowed contestants to read and answer questions online. This event was held on the popular live video calling app Zoom which allowed the participants to interact virtually. The trivia game was based on the 2000s pop culture and was made up of 60 questions. These questions were broken down into 6 different rounds containing a particular category. These categories included: general knowledge, heartbreaks, actors, music, and pictures. The faster you answered a question, the more points you received. Each round was very intense with the lead changing multiple times. Homecoming candidate Breck Baker of Delta Tau Delta ended on top followed by Robert Nelson with football; these two and their respective groups were rewarded points towards their campaigns.
The competition on Wednesday was an innovative table decoration contest where each candidate made a table to represent their organization. The creators of the table were required to sit at the table with other members of the organization in order to promote school spirit and show off the group they were representing. This took place on the Christy Mall and consisted of several different tables that had to represent the same theme, “We Love Our Home.” However, each table had their own twist that incorporated their organization. There were a lot of creative ideas and astonishing designs. Some participants offered wrapped up food and had carved pumpkins, T-Shirts and many other creative ideas. The tables were judged on originality, integration of theme, and overall appearance. All of the contestants put a lot of time and effort into the stunning tables, but the winner was Kelsey Hall of Sigma Kappa. Ellen Vichill with Women’s Basketball was the runner-up followed by Beth Lebar of Alpha Xi Delta in third.
On Thursday, a cornhole tournament was held on Harrison Lawn where candidates or and other members of the organizations participated in a single elimination competition. Music and multiple cornhole games were playing the entire time. The tournament started at 4:30 and had competitive play until 6:30. The final match came down to the football team, which Robert was unable to attend because of practice, against Breck Barker and his partner. The championship was a never-ending battle that had multiple lead changes and clutch throws. It was finally ended by a stone-cold throw from the football team that gave them the win in an extremely close game. Both candidates and their organizations were rewarded points.
To conclude the competitions, Homecoming candidates painted a bed sheet that was turned in on Thursday. In this competition, candidates followed the same “We Love our Home” themes and involved their organization in a creative way. The sheets were judged on these two aspects along with school spirit and originality. These sheets were displayed on the Mall on Friday for everyone to see. There were many amazing ideas and complex designs by all participants. Although all of the sheets were creatively constructed, only the top three banners were rewarded points for this competition. Robert Nelson and the football team won this competition with his design of himself standing in his football uniform looking out of a tunnel to fans and lights. Second place was Ellen Vichill and the Women’s Basketball team with her astonishing design of the Marietta basketball court. Coming in third was Beth Lebar and Alpha Xi Delta with her design of the sorority house in the background behind the words “We Love Our Home”.
Finally, the King and Queen were presented after the intersquad soccer scrimmage at Don Drumm Stadium on Friday, October 16th. The student body was able to vote online through the Marietta website during the week. Along with this, the points candidates won throughout the week were converted into votes towards them. The Homecoming winners’ crowns were presented from previous winners of the throne: Darrien Fields and Loren Coontz. Fields and Coontz passed the throne to the winners Robert Nelson of the football team and Kelsey Hall of Sigma Kappa. Following the crown ceremony, the top three organizations were announced. The overall organization winner was the football team followed by a three-way tie for second. The three organizations were Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Kappa, and Women’s Basketball. Third place was Alpha Tau Omega. The entire event was open to students and faculty and was also streamed for families and alumni to watch online. After a long, entertaining week, participants were rewarded for their efforts to keep the Homecoming tradition alive. It was an eventful yet safe week at Marietta College, and we are happy to announce that at Marietta College, “We Love Our Home.”
