{"id":6033,"date":"2022-11-22T14:39:39","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T21:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.boisestate.edu\/?p=6033"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:30:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T15:30:10","slug":"homecoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/2022\/11\/22\/homecoming\/","title":{"rendered":"Homecoming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright wp-image-6092\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6289\" height=\"4527\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/744\/2019\/07\/Homecoming-Parade-Downtown-1951-1952.jpg\" alt=\"A parade full of people in 1951. \" class=\"wp-image-6092\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Homecoming Parade Downtown 1951-1952<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Homecoming has been a tradition since 1933. The first Homecoming football game was held in 1934, and there has been a game every year since &#8212; save for the years between 1941 and 1946, during which Homecoming paused for the duration of World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some years, students were given booklets that included a schedule of the week&#8217;s myriad events. During early football games, &#8220;yell leaders&#8221; elected by the student body would boost enthusiasm by leading cheers, the lyrics to which could also be found in the booklet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Various annual traditions evolved over time from this school-wide event. The parade is an old staple, including club floats, high school marching bands, and the occasional calliope. Sometimes a real horse rode among its ranks. Homecoming week also had its own era-specific events. For example, an Arnold Schwarzenegger look-alike contest was held in the early 90s. Originally a powderpuff football game, the &#8220;Toilet Bowl&#8221; evolved into a co-ed game of flag football for amateur Boise State students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other notable traditions included the &#8220;Burning of the B&#8221; on Table Rock and the King Beard Contest. The parading and burning of a twenty-foot tall effigy of Elmer, Boise State&#8217;s first iteration of the bronco mascot took place annually for several years. Students participated in greased pole climbing contests, pie-eating contests, tricycle races, turtle races, and pig wrestling. The Homecoming Committee organized all events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Homecoming Dance also took place annually. ASBSU voted on the theme every year, which ranged from &#8220;Wild West&#8221; to &#8220;Sitting of Top of the World.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6093\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4500\" height=\"6479\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/744\/2019\/07\/AR-027792.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Hartung on top of a greased pole. \" class=\"wp-image-6093\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Hartung, winner of the Greased Pole Climb, 1970.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium wp-image-6095\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"6479\" height=\"4510\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/744\/2019\/07\/Turtle.jpg\" alt=\"A turtle crossing the finish line. \" class=\"wp-image-6095\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A turtle crosses the finish line to win the Turtle Race.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Written by Rachel Taylor, Summer 2019 intern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Homecoming has been a tradition since 1933. The first Homecoming football game was held in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,18,34],"tags":[25,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,44,69,75,60,85],"class_list":["post-6033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athletics-and-sports","category-encyclopedia","category-student-life","tag-1930s","tag-1940s","tag-1950s","tag-1960s","tag-1970s","tag-1980s","tag-1990s","tag-2000s","tag-2010s","tag-athletics","tag-culture","tag-games","tag-student-life","tag-traditions"],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"","author_name":"Kasey McCormick","cats":["Athletics and Sports","Encyclopedia","Student Life"],"featured_caption":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6033"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9334,"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6033\/revisions\/9334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}