Homecoming 2026, Pt. I

Hey gang.

Well here we are again - Homecoming. 

This and Prom are two, huge gauntlets that Kris and I have to run every year; social highlights (for our kids, not us) that require a month or two of prep work (dress shopping, shoe shopping, hair appointments, itinerary refining, etc.) and an entire weekend of being 'on call' for whenever and wherever your kids need your attention. This is our, like, fifth year dealing with Homecomings now, so we're pretty well-versed in what it all entails at this point: the first night finds us at a Midland High football game for most of the evening - a parade, the game, the big-ass halftime thing, etc. - and then, the following day, the kids get ready and we spend a few hours about town, taking pictures. Then there's the dance and all that, which obviously we don't take part it, and instead Yours Truly spends hours whittling down pictures and touching them up so that the kids can use the pics for their countless social media posts.

The beginning of the Homecoming Parade, coming down Washington St. . .

Well, this year we only had one kid involved with the Homecoming madness, now that Alayna is off to college. Abby has never cared as much about the whole picture-taking thing as much as her sister used to, so this year we didn't take nearly as many pictures as in previous years. Due to Abby's inability to properly coordinate her day with the various groups of people she had made plans with, we found ourselves bouncing back and forth between our house and Dow Gardens a few times throughout the afternoon and early evening. I think I took probably a third of the pics I usually do between our various tours of the city's gardens, and even that was stretching it - Abby was too preoccupied with all the people she was rolling around with to put a lot of effort into it. But whatever - at the end of the day this is her day and we're just in 'support' mode all weekend.

So the picture taking stuff will all be in the next post. Today's installment focuses on the Homecoming Parade and the traditional football game, which all went down this evening. I'll leave you now with some pics and video (including some pretty awesome professional shots that were shared by the MHS Varsity Pom coaches, one of whose husbands is a professional photographer) chronicling the first half of this year's Homecoming.

Behold. . .

As always, the MHS Varsity Pom Team led the parade down the street, right ahead of the marching band. 

Abby was positioned in the middle of the pack for this leg of the parade.

The MHS Marching Band

Erik, Courtney, Kris and I positioned ourselves on the west side of Washington St., across from the stadium, as the parade passed by.

Some of the professional photographer's pics of the girls as they marched past (looks like he was on the east side of the street.)

Couple shots of Abby here. . .

After the band and pommers passed us, that leg of the parade hung a sharp left and marched down to the Washington Hills (or whatever it's called) senior living community, about a block off Washington. The band and pommers do a stop-off for the old folks and do a few songs and routines for the elderly before about-facing and marching down into the stadium (their 'greatest hits,' like the fight song and their touchdown song - crap like that.)

We hung back on the street while they performed for the geriatrics, but the professional photographer accompanied the band and pommers up to the senior community and got some good pics of the kids performing (like this one of Abby here.)

Ella (Abby's other half.)

After performing their handful of greatest hits, the pommers led the poms away from the senior community and back towards the road.

(Abby is third from the front.)

Us and the Johnsons were waiting across the street as the group resumed their march towards Midland's Stadium.

Doing the Macarena.

I was years younger than these kids when that song first came out. Jesus H. Christ. . .

Erik and I resumed our tailgating position with some of the other friends while Kris, Courtney, and a couple other wives headed into the stadium behind the pommers and band. While they took their seat, the photographer continued to get some pretty awesome pics of the team on the sidelines.

Abby and one of the Homecoming Court reps.

Abby, third from left.

I don't get why they stand like this, facing the other half of the team some 20 yards away. It's like a weird, teenage stand-off.

Would be kinda cool if they all drew pistols and started gunning each other down, gunfighter style.

Kicking off the Fight Song as the team prepares for the first quarter (inning, whatever.)

Abby, looking pensive (or bored.)

The Chemics were destroying the visiting team this evening, so the pom team got to perform their 'touchdown' routine quite a few times on the sidelines.

Our view of the team this evening.

Mid C-Jump.

A better C-Jump pic, but unfortunately Abby's cropped out of this one.

The flag bearers run the school flags up and down the sidelines following another home team touchdown.

Doing an impromptu kick line with some of the Homecoming Court members . . .

At Halftime, once the band did their 'fancy' number (you know, where they walk all over the field in some giant, choreographed whatever-you-call-it), the band circled up behind the pom team for the girls' halftime routine.

Kickline on point, as usual.

They spelled out 'MHS' with their poms at the end of their routine this evening, which was something we hadn't seen before.

And the cancer ribbon, seeing how tonight was 'Pink Out' night in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

We looked down sometime in the self half of the game and saw Abby and Ella screwing around. . .

After announcing the winner of this year's class banners, we caught Abby and Ella doing their trademark 'handshake' (which they've had since, like, elementary school.)

These girls seriously performed nearly all night - the home team kept getting the ball in the end zone.

At the end of the game, the high schoolers all rushed the field and we made an effort to touch base with our kid before we old folks headed home. It was difficult tracking down Abby because she was busy getting pics with a ton of various kids. . . like whoever the hell this is.

Kris managed to get one with her at least.

One with Ella (of course.)

I've seen this girl before - she'll make an appearance in tomorrow's installment out at Dow Gardens while we were getting pics with all the girls and their dresses.

I took one of the wives on hand this evening on our way out. From Left to Right: Kris, Courtney, Mees, Alicia, and Stefanie.

With yet another Homecoming rep (apparently Abby knows all of them pretty well.)

Ella, Abby and Brooklyn kidnap a football player.

Aaaaand one with Archa (yet another rep), who was in the girls' Girl Scouts troop way back in the day. Stay tuned for tomorrow's dress-heavy installment. . .

- Brian