“It takes an endless amount of history to make even a little bit of tradition,” Henry James.

We have many traditions in Mineral Point, especially during events like Homecoming. People in Mineral Point care about traditions and love the sights and sounds of Homecoming. It is looked forward to every year by students in school and community members. However, even loved traditions change throughout the years.

We talked to some current and past students, and they had a few words on how MP Homecoming traditions have evolved.

Mrs. Gollon, now the library assistant at Mineral Point High School, graduated from Mineral Point in the Class of 1983. Her class will be celebrating their 40th reunion at this year’s Homecoming.

Mrs. Gollon and her classmates will be attending the football game, and she has been reminiscing all the memories she has made. Her favorite part about Homecoming was when the “Greasy Slicks,” a couple of teachers from her school, rode into the gym on motorcycles in whole outfits: leather jackets, leather boots, and jean pants, and played songs together in their band. Another one of her favorite things was when the girls and guys on court walked down the rock steps at the football field by the elementary school where we used to play all football games.

Another former student is Chelsey Wallace, a nurse practitioner at the Mineral Point and Dodgeville Medical Center. She graduated in the class of 2004, and she remembers all the things she loved from high school. Her favorite part of Homecoming in high school was the pep rally. She stated that the pep rally was the part that made the feeling of Homecoming become real and made it the most memorable. She also felt that the class competitions were fun. They were a fun way to have friendly competitions with your classmates. She misses that the court people still don’t drive onto the field but was happy to see that the date for the dance has changed to Saturdays and not Fridays.

Ella Kroll is currently a junior in high school. Her favorite part about Homecoming is the day of float building and powderpuff football. She also loves the dance on Saturday night. Ella hasn’t experienced significant change with Homecoming as a high school student. Her favorite memory from Homecoming was almost beating last year’s seniors in powder puff. Ella’s team ended up losing by one point in the game. Ella added that her favorite game from Homecoming is the Chicken Run, which she does during the class games.

Overall, the meaning of Homecoming has stayed the same welcoming home alumni, having fun, playing games, seeing the winners of Homecoming King and Queen, watching the football game, and dancing after all the hard work of the week. Sometimes with tradition, change happens even when you do not want it. The changes made will make further traditions and memories for future generations. After all, Homecoming all comes down to the spirit that comes out of every era, so let’s see who can bring it on this year. Get ready to play games, pick your outfits, keep the traditions alive, and start making memories for Homecoming 2023!