Smiles, laughter, pictures and dancing are what Thursday night’s parade, bonfire, pep rally and dance consisted of. Many Antioch community members prepared for a night of tradition. Besides the Homecoming dance, the parade, pep rally and bonfire are Antioch Community High School students’ favorite part of their Homecoming week. The long and fun-filled night is exactly what makes students realize the impact of ACHS tradition on both the school and community. Sequoit pride was at its finest Thursday night.
The annual parade kicked off the special night. The parade included ACHS’s royalty, the 50th reunion of the class of ’63, Shine Bright dancers, the marching band, the fall season sport teams and 60+ other entries. The parade began at the Antioch Bandshell and progressed its traditional route up Main Street and into the high school. Hundreds of residents lined up on Main Street with their Dairy Queen treats as they enjoyed the parade. The parade, once again, turned out to be successful in bringing the community together.
The class of 1963 rode in the annual Homecoming parade, celebrating the class’s 50th reunion.
Shortly after the parade ended at ACHS, families, sponsors, students, teachers and more took a seat on the football stadium bleachers as they eagerly waited for the annual homecoming bon fire pep rally. The traditional football kick competition began the night, with ACHS’s own James White winning. Each kicker was from a different school in Antioch like Hillcrest, Grass Lake, Antioch Upper Grade School, Emmons and Antioch Elementary School.
Following the football kick competition, cameras were flashing for the varsity sport teams who were ready to show off their dancing and acting skills as they put on an entertaining, humorous and fun show for the crowd. The varsity cheer squad get the audience excited while wearing their classic, retro cheer outfits. They lead the stands in the Y-E-L-L cheer and pulled off various stunts in their routine to pump up the audience.
Each varsity sports team choreographed their own dance or skit, which never fails to make an audience laugh and smile. The cross country team showed they not only can run, but also dance. The dancers partnered with fall athletes to a variety of pop and rap favorites. After field hockey, girl’s volleball and girl’s tennis performed their routines, the boy’s soccer team put on a creative, comedy skit in honor of the Homecoming dance theme, “A Night Under the Big Top.”
The 2013 Homecoming court led the school to the annual bonfire in the upper right corner of the football stadium. The announcement of the Homecoming court was the cue for the Antioch firefighters to ignite the flames and brighten up the Thursday night sky. Shortly after the bonfire was kindled, the firework show sponsored by Raymond Chevrolet lit up the sky over Antioch. As the community gathered around the fire, admiring its warmth while enjoying the fireworks, a short sprinkle of rain surprised the community. Despite the brief rain, the sound of the DJ shifted students and community members to the football field to show off their dance moves.
The varsity cheerleading squad kicked of the pep rally with spirited cheers and stunts. The squad wore retro uniforms, inspired by the tradition and importance of the bonfire pep rally and parade to the Antioch Community.
All the activities throughout the course of the spectacular night exemplified the true homecoming spirit of ACHS. After hundreds of tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram pictures, it is evident that students were beyond excited and could not wait any longer for the Homecoming dance that is occurred Oct. 12.
To see some of these Tweets, pictures and posts, search #SequoitPride.
