KU promises Saturday homecoming parade will be biggest, best ever

LAWRENCE -- This year's University of Kansas homecoming parade on Saturday will be the largest in KU history, with 15 floats and six marching bands as well as nearly 20 mopeds, driving in formation, as part of a new student group, the Scooterhawks.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Adams Alumni Center, 13th and Oread Ave., and will proceed south and west on Jayhawk Boulevard to the Chi Omega fountain at West Campus Road.

Many colorful banners from KU and Lawrence community groups, including Cordley Elementary School and the Shriners, also will appear in the parade. They will be joined by the KU Marching Band, the KU Alumni Marching Band, the KU Spirit Squad including the Jayhawk Mascot, and ROTC Color Guard and other student organizations.

KU welcomes marching bands from Norwich High School, Mulvane High School, Pleasanton Junior High and High School, and St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School in Wichita.

"We're excited about the addition of the high school band competition to the homecoming parade," said Chris Kaufman, homecoming parade co-chair and Aurora, Colo., junior. "There are very few competitive parade marching events in the state."

This year's homecoming theme, "Jayhawk Generations: Bringing Back the Classics," will be evident especially in the Lawrence Antique Auto Club and Topeka Corvette Club units, which will carry alumni basketball players. Danny Manning, 1988 All-American and former National Basketball Association player, will be grand marshal of the parade.

Other colorful floats and displays will include the winner of the KU Craziest Fan contest; the Flags of KU, a display of flags representing the KU international community; KU Habitat for Humanity; Asian American Student Union; KU Young Democrats; and many scholarship and residence halls, honor societies and KU fraternities and sororities.

Lawrence's "Balloon Man" will be at the parade making balloon animals for the crowd, and candy will be thrown from the floats.