Planning what to wear to any event can be stressful. You have to consider what event you’re going to, what the premise is, who is going to be there, etc. When it comes to events like homecoming, planning an outfit is key for having a successful homecoming night. 

This year’s theme is Mardi Gras, referring to the carnival season in New Orleans. In Mardi Gras, people dress up in colorful costumes, masks and pearls and celebrate. Colors like gold, purple and green are common Mardi Gras colors. Masquerade masks are also common in the theme.

The homecoming committee plans to decorate the school lobby with Mardi Gras decorations such as pearls and a Mardi Gras photo background while the gym will be decorated with gold, purple and green LED lights to compliment the theme.

“We tried to make sure that our student body doesn’t think that the theme is lame,” Brewer said. “We definitely don’t want that. We tried to do something fun and something that we think everyone would like.”

Mittman and his photo students will also be set up at the dance and will offer students the chance to purchase professional pictures taken at the dance.

“I’m excited to be able to frame my pictures with my friends now that we can get those pictures done,” junior Saniyah Wasi said.

The days and events are set for Homecoming 2022. The Student Government Association’s homecoming committee met throughout August to get all things homecoming confirmed. 

The committee voted and sent out a google form where the top ten dress up themes were sent out to the student body. Then the top five were the winning dress up days.

SGA is also hosting a door decorating contest for first block during homecoming week. The theme for the contest will be “Sparkman is Out of This World.” All doors must be completed by Sept. 8 to qualify for judging. The winning class will receive a donut party and the winning teacher will receive a 25$ gift card. 

“I think it would be really fun to draw in some of Huntsville’s space culture,” SGA adviser Kaitlyn Brewer said. “Something from outer space or NASA would be cool.”

At next week’s pep rally there will be a paper chain competition. Throughout the week SGA will be selling paper chain lengths for 25 cents and the class with the most chains earns a chance at winning the spirit stick. 

 “A spirit stick is something I did in high school as a cheerleader and that was the prize for the winning group at the pep rallies,” Brewer said. “I think it’s a way to maybe incentivize participation and have something to be proud of.”

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History Teacher Katie Brewer

History Teacher Gina Glass

“I always liked our homecoming parades and the pep rally. It was always the best pep rally of the year.”

“We always dressed for the theme. For example, if the theme was Hawaiian, then you would wear Hawaiian clothes to fit the theme.”

“We didn’t have Pinterest back then so you never had to one up anybody. Promposals and asking people to the dance did not happen. There was also more involvement in our time than now. The whole school would dress up during the week including teachers and staff.”

Psychology Teacher Jelena Pope

“I liked everything leading up to homecoming like the homecoming spirit week pep rally.”

“We wore Sunday church attire. We did not wear anything like what the kids wear now. What we wore was never fancy.”

“First off, there was not a big deal about asking girls to the dance. They might written a note asking but most of the time it was more like ‘Hey you wanna go?’”

Journalism Teacher Erin Coggins

This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I am going to own up to it. I was up for homecoming queen. I just knew that I was going to win, but when my name was not announced, I beat my bouquet of roses against my leg in front of the entire crowd. My parents were humiliated beyond belief. I will never live that down. 

Those on the homecoming court wore fancy dresses like one would for the prom. And we wore huge corsages on our wrists to the dance. I was a cheerleader and we wore large carnation corsages on our uniforms at the game. The dance was held immediately after the game so everyone was dressed up for the game. 

My school had a lot of school spirit. Everyone dressed up! I mean everyone, including the faculty. No one in our school would have missed the dance or the game. No one campaigned for homecoming court. We always had a parade and a bonfire. Homecoming was a tradition that no one wanted to miss. 

History Teacher Katelyn Brewer

“We always had a field day on the Friday of the football game. I just remember being extremely excited because we would be playing our games and your class would be doing such a good job at winning the competitions. When I was in high school I was a cheerleader so it was always a lot of fun getting to cheer at the pep rally and then going out on the football field during halftime while the court was being presented.”

“When I was in high school, we never had homecoming dances. So I guess there never really was a theme or trend. I just remember us having dress up days and they were pretty much the same regardless of what year it was. There was always costume day, decade day, color day and spirit day.”

“I would say generally, and I don’t know if this is from personal experience or not, but it was all about the football game. We didn’t have the dance or anything and here today with these students, it is very much centered on the dance. So that would be a big difference not due to the change in time but the change in schools.”

Math Teacher Linzee Stevenson

“My school was a very small school and we had tons of school spirit because it was small town football- it was huge. If you weren’t at the football game, then you weren’t anywhere. The whole town was involved and it would basically shut down. All week we had dress up days and we had a homecoming parade. The teachers got involved and the students got involved and that is one of my favorite memories.”

“The style for the dance was not formal. It was always held right after the football game on Friday night. We just wore our spirit gear to the dance because it wasn’t super fancy. My school colors were black, orange and white so we were just decked out in whatever we wore to the game that day.”

“I don’t feel like we have as much school spirit. I feel like COVID had a lot to do with that and we need to bump it up. I think we will get there though. We still have dress up days and homecoming queen but COVID did a number on the school spirit.”

History Teacher Brett Larsen

“I remember the dress up days, specifically I remember superhero day was a really big day at my school. I also remember hanging out with my friends a lot during that week.”

“People had Nokias cell phones back then. There weren’t flip phones yet and texting was brand new when I was in high school. People also wore puka shell necklaces.”

“Students were more into it and there were parades, pep rallies and all kinds of cool events. I feel like now that COVID kinda killed the school spirit, it disconnected the students from their school identity. Hopefully it will improve now that everyone is back.”

P.E. Teacher John Turnbough

“Homecoming in our hometown meant football games, dances, and mums! Mums were something that was like a competition itself. The girls were given mums by their boyfriends to wear to school on homecoming Friday. The reason I cherish this memory is because it was always special to see my girlfriend smile when she saw her mum.”

“I went to high school in the early 80’s in a small town in Texas. Just the 80’s alone HAS a very different style and many trends that were typically 80’s. We didn’t have formal homecoming dances so the thing for everyone to do was to go to the football game and then off to an empty parking lot at Mr. Gatti’s Pizza. We just hung out and played music and talked with our friends.”

“Most of the homecoming traditions are similar today as they were back then. Football is always played against a team that is almost always a win! Dances are definitely more prominent now then they were then and are typically in formal attire. Alabama schools don’t do the mums so that is definitely different. But homecoming has also been a way to have mini reunions with classmates from previous graduating classes. Mostly, homecoming traditions are the ones designed and supported by individual schools or areas.”

Government Teacher Ben Stevenson

“We had a parade my senior year. We started in the parking lot at Sparkman and went all the way down Jeff Road to Monrovia Middle. The football team rode along firetrucks and we had candy we threw out to kids. We had our floats that went along the line.”

“There is a trend I remember guys doing that when we wore a Polo shirt we would match the color of the logo with the undershirt we wore.”

“The school spirit is lacking nowadays. There was a lot more community and school involvement such as parades where people from the community would line the road. The students were more excited about it and it was a whole lot less about the dance, in fact very few people went to the homecoming dance back then. It was more about the events around homecoming.”

Computer Science Teacher Kaitlyn Longino

“My school did a bond fire before homecoming week and it was a huge turnout. The whole community and school came together.”

“The trend back then we’re printed, short dresses but I never wore one, statement necklaces and massive side parts.”

“Compared to this year, the dance was at the end of homecoming week. There was more involvement and excitement. We wore nice clothes as if it was for church. We also had mums we wore to the game.”

Chick- Fil- A

Beyond the food, which gets high ratings from customers, many analysts point to Chick-fil-A’s exceptional service. The food tastes better and seems like it’s a higher quality. The order is going to be accurate. The staffers are courteous, upbeat and friendly. And even though there are three times more cars in the drive-through lines, there’s a very good chance you’ll get your meal faster than at the McDonald’s next door.

5A’s

Delicious, fresh, Mediterranean food. This diet emphasizes whole, minimally-processed foods. It focuses on filling its followers’ plates with mostly plants, rather than red meat, and leans on a variety of flavors that enhance—instead of hurt—your health. You’ll be able to dance the night away without throwing up.

Sitar

With its use of cumin, tamarind, pepper, and other powerful spicy ingredients ensuing taste combinations unlike anything found around the globe. There is a reason why Indian food is so tasty—it is the fewer numbers of overlapping flavors in ingredients that bring out a unique flavor.

The Camp

The Camp is near top golf and is a wonderful opportunity to take pictures. They have live music and string lights, causing euphoria throughout. They serve coffee and have food trucks every weekend.

Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom comes by its psychedelic vibe. The first shop was opened in Atlanta, Georgia, by a couple college dudes, in 1974; through the mean, materialistic 80s and the wan heroin chic of the 90s, the business stuck to its gloriously trippy guns and prospered. They serve pizza, wings, and much more delicious things to eat before or after homecoming.

Melt

Melt Bar and Grilled was created in 2006 by owner/founder Matt Fish with the goal of providing gourmet comfort food based on his lifelong appreciation for the unassuming grilled cheese sandwich. “It’s simple, it’s good, it’s delicious,” he says.

Yolo Rolo

Before heading to the dance, grab a unique snack where liquid crème is transformed into rolls of delicious ice cream. You can add your own fresh fruit or candy to the mix. Nice selection of Asian foods, sandwiches, specialty coffees, smoothies, bubble tea, and the best rolled ice cream with real fruit choices. 

Big Spring Park

Big Spring Park is a beautiful, large park right downtown. There’s a lot of space and walking paths. It’s Well lit in the evening with several fountains to take pictures by. If you cross Church St in the NE corner you will come to the Source of Big Springs. This is the site of the first settlement by John Hunt. The Natives Americans already knew about this seemingly never ending source of fresh water.

Botanical Gardens

The 112-acre Huntsville Botanical Garden is open year-round and contains a diverse ecosystem of meadows, upland and bottomland forest, and wetlands, as well as a variety of specialty gardens and native plant collections. Perfect opportunity for Instagram pictures.

Lowe Mill -Dragon Forge Cafe

Do you feel like a princess in your dress? Dragon Forge Cafe does its best to give you a fantasy experience. All of the baristas dress up like fairytale characters and they have gourmet looking and tasting treats. There is also a live harp player, giving it a real castle effect.