As autumn rolls around the corner, more notably (at least for high schoolers) so does homecoming. The dance, the game, the dress-up, the parade: all of these aspects go toward a chance to booster school spirit and give us an excuse to dress to the nines one night.
Our school, being the oldest in the county, has stood decades after decades of homecomings. Years have passed on, of different generations taking photos at the same downtown Canton gazebo (it’s a canon event), sitting in the student section dressed in spirit wear, and watching the court in the homecoming parade. While the dance is probably the most significant part of homecoming week, overall, homecoming is a fun tradition and a lively start to the school year.
So where did it all begin?
The early days
Homecoming originally stems from the early 1900s, where colleges would host alumni football games as a chance to stir up school spirit (and football ticket sales). The universities of Baylor, Illinois, and Michigan all respectively claim to have hosted the first homecoming, but despite who started it, the idea quickly caught fire and spread across the U.S.
Over the next part of the century, homecoming evolved in style and tradition. The first homecoming court started out in the 1930’s, according to The North Star, and like today, the positions of king and queen were only offered to seniors.
From 1944 to 1946, most homecomings came to a temporary halt with the arrival of World War II. This era also marked the beginnings of homecoming being a short-dress-only event, as dresses were shorter in order to ration fabric. Scandalous!
The dance didn’t really come into the picture until much later. For most of the twentieth century, homecoming was about a fierce rivalry game and the thrilling parade in preparation. Yet over time (and as the PTA grew) homecoming grew into a dance, a pep rally, a spirit week, and a state of mind.
Homecoming at Cherokee
Cherokee has seen many homecoming kings and queens through its doors over the years, but the actual court was overshadowed by the Miss Sequoyah pageant that also took place in the fall. If you thinking homecoming court votes are fierce, you should’ve seen Miss Sequoyah.
Yet homecoming for Cherokee has always featured a football game we’ve most often lost, a parade through downtown Canton, red-white-and-black dress up on Friday, cheesy poster proposals, and of course, the dance. Most recently, the dance has been hosted in the North Gym for the extroverts, and snacks and karaoke in the North cafeteria for introverts.
While homecoming may be disregarded as an underclassmen dance, there still is something exciting about getting dressed up, even if it’s just for spirit week. Here’s some of CHS’s favorite (and our recommended) sights for photos and dinner:
- Take photos at Downtown Canton square (it’s a classic. The courthouse, the gazebo, all of it)
- Take photos at Brown Park in downtown Canton (can’t go wrong)
- Take photos at Etowah River Park (a little farther away, still beautiful)
- Take photos at your front porch (so your mom can make that cheesy annual Facebook post)
- Eat at Downtown Kitchen (traditional steakhouse)
- Eat at Queenie’s (Southern food and steak)
- Eat at The Salty Mule (Southern seafood)
- Eat at Local on North (classy burgers, seafood, pizza)
- Eat at home! Seriously, save some money!
As homecoming approaches this week, the Warrior Word encourages CHS to show up and show out with school spirit! We wish the best of luck to our football team and cheerleaders. The path to victory is sweet!
