Current students cheer on the Knights as they fight the Kohawks at the football game on Saturday. Photo by Amanda Gahler
EMILY SCHMITT KNIGHTLIFE EDITOR
The typical routine of campus was set aside last weekend as alumni flooded Wartburg to participate in the college’s homecoming traditions.
Homecoming 2009 was a time for alumni to reflect on their time as a student at Wartburg, especially their memories of homecoming.
“Homecoming was always a lot of fun,” Lois McCullough said. “With all the alumni coming back, it was exciting to hear their stories.”
While she used to be a student listening to alumni’s stories, her role is reversed and she is now one of thousands of alumni who share their stories with Wartburg’s current students.
Sandra Wendland said there was no band in the homecoming parade her first year at Wartburg. She and other residents of the second floor of Centennial decided they would create their own band.
“We put on our Wartburg sweatshirts and shower caps, got some pots and pans and spoons and marched in the homecoming parade,” Wendland said. “One of the sophomore women put on a long lab coat and got a bass drum stick from the music department and walked across the bridge. She didn’t know what she was doing; she kept throwing it like a baton in the air and it fell in the Cedar River.”
Another homecoming tradition is the Renaissance Faire. Barbara (Thorson) Schultz remembered people dressed up as knights that would joust during the afternoon, an event she wished would continue.
Several alumni reflected on their memories of cheering at homecoming football games and playing in the pep band.
Since graduating 25 years ago, Dan and Pam Soelske have returned to campus to celebrate homecoming 22 times.
They said it is a lot of fun to be back on campus and see old traditions continuing and new traditions beginning.
One tradition they would like to see revived is live music during Oktoberfest.
“I always played in the polka band at Oktoberfest. We had it at the fairgrounds then, in the old green building, and that was always a blast,” Dan Soelske said.
Another alum, Jim Moeller, said he formed the first Oktoberfest German band when Oktoberfest took place at the VFW Hall in Waverly.
Moeller and his wife, Sheryl, said homecoming is an exciting opportunity to see old friends and classmates. Schultz felt the same way.
“I lived in Chellevold Manor for three years and…almost all of our manor was back, so I was really excited to see them.”
Alumni left campus with renewed friendships and revived memories of past homecomings meanwhile the campus fell back into its everyday routine.