After a long week leading up to homecoming weekend, the Jackson-Milton Blue Jays hosted the annual parade to kick off the homecoming game against Waterloo. The Little Blue Jay football players and cheerleaders started off the parade. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all participated in creating a float relating to the game, which came shortly after.

The freshmen theme was “Roast the Vikings,” the sophomores had a theme of “Toy Story: Homecoming Edition,” followed by the juniors army theme of “Guard the Field,” and lastly the seniors finished off the float part of the parade with their theme of “Overthrow the Vikings.”

Overall, the freshman float caught the eyes of the judges and won the competition.

Along with the floats, all of the girls that are part of homecoming court rode in convertible cars as tradition. The girls nominated for homecoming court were as follows: freshman Camryn Mitchell, followed by sophomore Grace McDevitt, then junior Hannah Pietro. The seniors were Taylor Hayes, Emily Williams, Haley Lengyel, Michaelina Terranova, and homecoming queen Sierra Fife. The junior high cheerleaders had their own float along with the high school cheerleaders as well.

One of the freshmen that helped with the making of the float, Logan Grunder, said, “When I looked around and saw the excitement on everyone’s faces, I knew the time and commitment was worth it.”

Mr. Domino, one of the judges, said, “I found it difficult because the class of 2018 always had the best float. It was also hard because the sophomores float was so well put together. I spend the most time with the freshmen and I also like the idea of Roasting the Vikings.”