Student groups and others walk in COW Homecoming Parade
By Patricia Faulhaber
September 27, 2012
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Homecoming weekend was celebrated at The College of Wooster with a host of events starting Sept. 21 through Sept. 23. It was the 94th homecoming for the liberal arts college. Thousands of students, parents, alumni, administration and staff attended sports events, tailgate parties, receptions, seminars, ceremonies and many participated in the homecoming parade on Saturday morning.
Christie Kracker, associate dean of student services, coordinated the parade this year. This is the third year for the return of the parade after it had been missing from the homecoming schedule of events for a few years.
We have over 30 units today including several student organizations, the Scot Pipers pipe band, a fire truck from Wooster Fire Department and several of the fall sports teams including members of the swim team, football team and the cricket team, Kracker said.
Kracker was expecting several hundred people to view the parade along the parade route, which ran from Wayne Street to University Street. The student organizations walked or rode in hay wagons, trucks or walked with a wooden cow decorated to represent their group.
One such group was the Anime, a Japanese animation group. The group has weekly meetings, viewings and a game night.
Our group is only a year-and-a-half old and this is our first time walking in the parade, said Kristen Scuderi, committee member for the group.
One of the programs from The College of Wooster participating in the parade was the nursery school. Open since 1947, the nursery school was incorporated into the department of psychology in 1974.
There are several parents with their kids that go to the nursery school here to walk in the parade with us, said Joyce Murphy, director.
The nursery school is a wonderful connection between community and the college, she said.
There were also three of the alumni sports Hall of Fame inductees riding in a Mustang convertible. Two of the three live out of Ohio and one lives in Shaker Heights. Katie KellerLynn from the class of 1988 competed in cross country and track and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I loved running at The College of Wooster and its a treat to come back and see people and remember all of the good things and to be remembered, KellerLynn said.
Larisa Fricsons Kirgan played soccer and was in the graduating class of 1995. She now lives in Alexandria, Va. She felt honored to be inducted into the alumni Hall of Fame.
I think its great the alumni association recognizes the athletes and its great to come back to the campus to see how much it has grown and changed, Kirgan said.
The third alumnus in the parade was Katie Montague, who graduated in 1999 and played basketball. She currently lives in Shaker Heights, has two boys and has a private practice in speech language pathologies.
The Fighting Scots mascots, Scottie Dog and Fighting Scot, were on hand to help lead the parade units down the parade route.
