@MIZZOU ASKS YOU

Favorite Tradition

I always enjoyed the decorations in Greek town, the snake dance and the “happy” times surrounding Homecoming. I graduated from MU in the spring of 1944, which was a long time ago. It was a time when we didn’t have fights even though we may have disagreed. No one was uptight, and it was study time during the week and playtime on the weekend. We had lots of fun, although it was during World War II. Sometimes I think it may have been because the guys were going off to war (and some of them did not return) that everyone respected each other.

— Janet Taylor Ludwigs, BS Ed ’44

Our MU Tigers beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers on a very cold afternoon in 1953. All of the games were played in the afternoon because there was no TV and no lights on the field. Of course there was real grass. What other kind could there be? Those wooden goalposts came down in a minute. There was no homecoming king. And the queen was notified of her selection during the half-time announcements on the field. GO TIGERS! Here’s to another great 50 years.

— Charmian Ficklin Boyle, BS Ed ’55
Homecoming Queen, ’53

My Mizzou Homecoming memories? I remember being in the Maneater float my freshman year when Jim Massey was student body president. Jim Massey had this great big smile and Where’s-Waldo look about him, and we had a joke going that whoever could “find Waldo” in the crowd would win a prize.

— Jenn Farrell, BJ ’98

It’s pretty dorky, but I always seemed to have to work during Homecoming. I worked at JC Penney for three years in college. All of the employees always wore Mizzou stuff. The game was played over the loudspeaker, so even if you were buying hand towels, you knew how the game was going.

— Heidi Hurst, BJ ’99

I had the great honor of serving as a member of the Homecoming Steering Committee in 1997, as well as being the adviser to the steering committee and director of the Homecoming program from 1999-2002. While I have many, many great memories, I just think the overall tradition and excitement of Homecoming is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life! But if I had to recall one memory, it would have to be the fall of 1999, my first as Homecoming adviser.

Greektown house decorations are a longstanding tradition during Mizzou’s Homecoming celebration. Photo courtesy of MU Publications and Alumni Communication

Robert Loggia (you know the guy from the movie Big with Tom Hanks, Scarface with Al Pacino and a number of other movies, commercials, etc.) was slated to be the grand marshal for that year. Everything was set. He was featured in MIZZOU magazine, we had spoken on a few occasions about the upcoming trip, and I thought he was set! Literally weeks before the celebration, I received a call indicating that he would no longer be able to attend the celebration due to some unnamed project that he was to be filming. So after my initial screaming and panicking, we were able to recruit the volunteer president of the MU Alumni Association, Ms. Melodie Powell, who gracefully filled in and did an awesome job (thanks again, Melodie). I know that the students from Homecoming 1999 were glad to have Melodie ably step into this role.

But you see, this is one example of what Homecoming is all about. The support of the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends is what makes Homecoming such a time-honored tradition and a great success. Over time, this tradition has become a real staple in the Mizzou community and beyond. I mean, for goodness sake, we invented the tradition!!! I have appreciated our commitment to preserving the past, but we also are making sure that the celebration and the activities are viable today. The sheer number of hours that the students put into community service, the talent competition, the campus decorations competition, the residence hall activities, and so on, is truly outstanding.

I enjoyed very much the opportunity to work with some of the most outstanding students at Mizzou on the Homecoming Steering Committee; they truly do some great work on behalf of the MU Alumni Association. I also enjoyed working with Sonya Steptoe, Melodie Powell, General John Gordon, Jann Carl and John Anderson, all Homecoming grand marshals when I was involved with the celebration.

If you have not come home in awhile, I invite you to consider it for the future. Homecoming founder Chester Brewer wouldn’t have it any other way!

— Dale Wright, BA ’99
Homecoming Steering Committee Member, 1997 (Tiger Town USA)
Adviser, 1999-2002 (Marked for Victory, A Fierce Presence,
Unleash the Legend, A Distinct Impression)

P.S. To the 1997 steering committee members: Pawheads forever, “Tiger Tins,” and I still think that “Trupac” or “Truman Skywalker” would have been cool!

Heidelberg memories that we received after @Mizzou’s October issue had already been published …

Those firemen in the picture [included in the October issue of @Mizzou] weren’t even born yet when I was a waitress at the Heidelberg during the summer of ’74. I also worked in the Biological Engineering and Chemical Engineering departments – PDP 11-75 and Fortran efforts. I lived in the used-to-be red brick flats right behind the restaurant, so I didn’t have far to walk home. I remember cleaning up at the end of the late shift while listening to “She thinks I don’t care” on the jukebox.

— Susan P. Brown, BA ’75

I can’t just share one memory about the Heidelberg. There are too many of them. I feel like part of me is gone.

I started at MU in ’68 and spent several evenings there. The place was always packed on band nights it seemed. Lots of rockers, hippies and wanna-bes. Just as many girls as guys too! Listening to the groups do a great job with The Band songs and Dylan, etc., was pretty cool indeed. “Take a load off Mandy (Mandy, Andy, Randy – never confident that I got that name right in the lyrics) ... an’, an’ you put the load right on me.” The ’Berg did both.

The early years were wild. So wild that I was not invited back after my first year at MU. After Vietnam and a divorce I returned there to heal and meet old friends. During that time I would spend Fridays, when I didn’t have to work, downing some pitchers with classmates, instructors and professors. Later I took my wife of 26 years there on our first date. Off and on, no matter where I moved my residence over the years, I would come back to meet friends, and the question would come up, “Where do you want to meet?” The answer was simple: The Heidelberg, of course.

— Ted Fry, BS ’76

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Last Update: November 15, 2007