Boise State’s annual homecoming parade drew crowds of Boise locals, families and alumni to campus on Friday. Golf carts, floats and classic cars filled the West Reserve Lot, representing local organizations, Greek life and student clubs.
Campus Programs Coordinator Maura Romano oversees part-time student employees who put on events like the parade and “bring the fun to campus.”
“[Parent’s weekend] is a great time to engage with our alumni network, our current students, their families and our community members,” Romano said.
Homecoming has been a Boise State tradition since 1933, with the parade dating back to the 1950s. A home football game has taken place each year since 1934, except the years between 1941 and 1946, when the season paused for World War II.
Student organizations and clubs are invited to sign up for the parade each year and receive a free golf cart and complimentary decorations for the night. Romano highlighted this removes barriers and allows for new participants each year, adding she enjoys seeing returning organizations and how they choose to decorate their golf carts.
“I love getting to see clubs show up and decorate really creatively to tie in their passion and the thing that they love at Boise State,” Romano said.
Some local organizations have been participants for years, like the Yanke Motor Museum, which leaves the audience looking forward to seeing classic vehicles and pieces of Boise’s history each year.
The 1948 Commemorative Calliope is an REO Speed Wagon truck now owned by the Yanke Motor Museum. The truck, which is a historic part of the parade, was recently refurbished and sold to Linda Yanke at an auction.
“It runs like a charm,” Randy Schwager, Yanke’s brother and truck driver, said.
Yanke noted the truck previously belonged to Boise State, but when she heard that the university had plans to sell it, she was quick to buy it and continue its legacy.
“It’s such a unique piece,” Yanke said. “I just couldn’t stand to see it go somewhere else.”
Some newer additions to the parade, like Boise State’s Lightsaber Society, only began participating in the parade in recent years.
Mechanical Engineering major and President of the Lightsaber Society, Ken Martin, joined the club in 2021. The club brings together fans of the Star Wars franchise to make costumes inspired by the films and learn fight choreography.
Martin shared the club has been participating in the parade for three years and enjoys decorating their golf cart to resemble a different spacecraft from the franchise each year.
“In 2023, we built a TIE fighter, last year we built a Republic gunship from the Clone Wars and this year we built an X-wing,” Martin said.
For this year’s parade, the club hand-made the X-wing out of vinyl and tarp over the course of nearly 5 hours in the days leading up to the parade. The final product sat balanced on top of the golf cart, with club members dressed in their handmade costumes performing their fight choreography alongside it.
Aside from displaying the unique interests of students and the university’s support from local organizations, each float and golf cart was entered to win awards for group spirit, creativity and overall best float.
The winners were announced during the first quarter of Saturday’s home football game against University of New Mexico, with the Black Student Association and Bronco Dance Club taking home the Large and Small Group Spirit Awards, and Phi Sigma RHO and the Latin Dance Club winning most creative.
The Large Group overall float winner was Construction Management, and the Lightsaber Society won for the Small Group overall float.
