Retiring the Red Raiders

As with many small Iowa towns, my hometown is shrinking. It's sad but true. The result? Our high school will be consolidating with a neighboring town this fall, so of course we'll be having a new mascot. Because of that, the past weekend was packed full of festivities around town to officially retire our old mascot, the Red Raider. It was the same weekend as our town's annual celebration, the Lazy Days and a BBQ Cookoff that has taken place for the past few years. Throw in a couple family reunions, and it was quite the weekend. Needless to say, there was a lot of commotion around town. It was really fun to see the town so busy, and also to see some people that I haven't seen for a while. 

Friday night kicked off the weekend with a BBQ Wings contest, a beer garden, and a band. There was a huge turnout, and the streets were packed!

Saturday morning started bright and early with the Doctors Dash, which is a 5k sponsored by all the local doctors. There's also a 10k and a 1-mile walk. We did the 1-mile walk as a family; a 5k wasn't in the cards for us this year, as you could imagine. 

The starting line commotion before the Doctors Dash

The local Rotary club held their pancake feed on one of the closed downtown streets, where I met up with a couple girls that I graduated high school with. We got in some good chatting and of course some quality people-watching.

Next on Saturday was the parade. This has always been one of my favorite parts of homecoming week, and it was kind of  similar to that. There were some class floats, a grand marshall, and of course the cheerleaders and band. It was really fun to see such a variety of ages represented. And we even got a little candy! 

The fire department's calliope, an old air-powered piano that is run by pressing the foot pedals. Talk about coordination!

The town's beloved 97-year-old guy helping to advertise the Johnny Carson Birthplace Museum, one of our 'historical attactions'

A parade wouldn't be complete without familiar faces! Randy & Shirley with the Alegent crew.

'Rockin into Retirement' - one of the witty floats to help Retire the Red Raiders

The horses always bring up the end of the parade!

Saturday afternoon was spent at a huge family reunion [eating too much food, of course]. That evening was the official retiring of the Red Raider. The school board president read the official proclamation, and the Red Raider is history.

The weekend included more quality family time and more catching up with old friends, and even a nap or two. It was a fantastic last weekend at home, but sad to know that it will never be the same to come back. But alas, things must change and we must move forward. So good luck to the future:  the Southwest Valley Timberwolves!