By Kendra Pell | Reporter
Since 1909, Baylor University has held a Homecoming Parade to the city the pride Baylor students and alumni have for their school.
Many students may have wondered what actually happens to these remarkable, man-made floats after all of the months of planning and building.
In most cases, two student-run organizations will work together on a float. For example, Phi Chi and Kappa Kappa Gamma have teamed up the past few years. Houston senior, Marilyn Lovell was one of last year’s float chairs for Kappa Kappa Gamma. Lovell said the girls typically do not participate in the “take apart” process.
“Each of the groups takes their own floats down after the parade, but the guys never made us help with that part,” Lovell said.
Last year Kappa Kappa Sigma and Pi Beta Phi teamed up to create their Class A winning float, “RV There Yet?”
Houston senior and a Kappa Kappa Sigma float chair, Dylan Tarpey said the float is broken down into individual parts which are relocated after the parade.
“After the judging and the parade, we take the float back to our site, and from there we decide what we want to do with the various props,” Tarpey said. “Last year, we kept the projects that we worked the hardest on, and I know this year there are a couple of props that we are going to give to various friends and family.”
Long Beach senior and previous float chair for Phi Gamma Delta Brock Meckelborg said major parts of their “Fiji Islander” float were recycled from two years ago.
“After the parade, the sand was donated to the fraternity member’s ranch where the 14-foot trailer came from,” Meckelborg of said. “The inflatables were kept for decorations in various members’ houses.”
Longview senior and previous float chair for Kappa Omega Tau Judson Murray says the fraternity is one of the few that creates their float from scratch by themselves.
“Every year, we build the float in the fall and then, come spring semester, we completely dismantle the float then start fresh the next fall,” Murray said. “The stuff that looked cool, such as signs, we keep and put in our houses, but we scrap the structures.”
Since these floats are too large to keep in their original conditions, the groups have to disassemble them. However, it is still a rewarding experience for anyone who contributes to such a project.
“My favorite part about float is getting together with a great group of people and construct something amazing,” Tarpey said. “These past two years have surpassed our own expectations and that makes the float worth all of the time and effort.”
