Southeast Homecoming parade provides a sweet time

Southeast Missouri State University’s annual Homecoming parade rolled down Broadway on Saturday morning, led by a sparkling regiment of Southeast cheerleaders.

What followed was a mixture of students, alumni, band members, athletes and even Republicans and Democrats in keeping with Southeast’s Homecoming theme this year: “We Are One.”

Parade marshal Felix Kinsley, a Southeast alumnus, waved from a black Ford Mustang. University president Carlos Vargas-Aburto waved from a red one.

Southeast mascot Rowdy the Redhawk high-fived candy-grabbing spectators as the seven alumni and one faculty member who were named Merit Award winners rode past in similar cars.

Soon after, the Cape Girardeau Fire Department’s firetrucks rolled by, which spectator Shea Martin said always was her favorite part.

Kent Scheeter, left, and JT Whitmore, right, ride on horses during the Southeast Missouri State University homecoming parade Saturday in Cape Girardeau.ANDREW J. WHITAKER

Fellow parade-goer Corey Sparkman said seeing the marching bands was the biggest part of his Homecoming celebration plans for the day, but many of the floats that followed reflected this year’s parade theme, “Superheroes and Villains: Unmask Your Potential.”

One fraternity’s float featured life-size Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Cape La Croix bus was transformed into a giant Ecto-1 from the film “Ghostbusters.”

Several alumni veterans represented a different kind of hero as they passed in olive-drab Jeeps, followed by student veterans.

For many children, though, the characters and candies were the highlight of the morning.

Ten-year-old Darryl Jones said it was hard to pick just one, but the best float of the parade had been the one with the inflatable-suited Big Hero 6 and other characters from the Disney animated movie of the same name.

Raymond LeGrand, left, talks with his granddaughter Tess Merritt, 3, during the Southeast Missouri State University homecoming parade Saturday in Cape Girardeau.ANDREW J. WHITAKER

“If I was in a parade, though, I would be the Black Panther,” he said.

His 8-year-old friend, Kasey Peters, agreed but said he’d have chosen a different hero if he were in the parade.

“This one,” he said, pointing to the Iron Man on his jacket.

As the parade continued toward downtown, spectators began to drift toward the next stop in their Homecoming celebration.

For some, that was tailgating downtown before Southeast’s Redhawks were to take on their Ohio Valley Conference rivals, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. For others, it was attending one of several university tours and events at River Campus.

Members of the U.S. Marines march down Broadway during the Southeast Missouri State University homecoming parade Saturday in Cape Girardeau.ANDREW J. WHITAKER

And for many such as Jones and Peters, it was going home to eat their candy.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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