Alva Review-Courier -

Alumni from all directions gathered around the downtown square on Saturday, Oct. 7, for Northwestern Oklahoma State University's annual Homecoming parade. The activities continued with watching the massed band perform, learning who the Ranger Royalty winners would be and watching Ranger football. The theme was "Rock Rangers Rock."

Festivities on Saturday began with the annual Ranger Run. Brynlee Morris was the 1-Mile Fun Run winner; Draven Hidalgo was the male 5K winner with a time of 21:08, and Harper Bays was the female 5K winner with a time of 23:53.

Leading the parade on Saturday were parade marshals Darrell and Grace Wessels.

After the conclusion of the parade, the winners of the bands and floats were announced.

First place for on-campus floats was the Northwestern Chemistry Club, second place went to the Northwestern Scholar Ambassadors (NSA), and third place went to Wesley House.

In the off-campus, non-profit float category first place went to the Cherokee Strip Museum.

For the off-campus, commercial business float category first place went to Beadles Nursing Home.

The President's Award for the best overall float went to Northwestern Chemistry Club. The Northwestern Alumni Association Ranger Spirit Award for the float depicting exceptional Ranger spirit went to the Church of Christ Bible Chair.

Eight bands participated in the parade. Bands that placed include the following:

Junior High Marching Competition – first place, Pioneer-Pleasant Vale; second place, Blackwell Middle School

High School Marching Competition – first place, Laverne Fighting Tigers Band; second, Pioneer-Pleasant Vale; third, Alva Band of Gold

The massed band performance, which included the Northwestern band, alumni band members and parade band participants, totaled about 220 members.

Northwestern played host to several other activities including the alumni band and the crowning of the Ranger King and Queen.

This year's Ranger Royalty included Ranger King Draven Hidalgo, a senior vocal performance major from Hooker, who was sponsored by NSA.

Ranger Queen is Ally Meek, a sophomore health and sports science major from Enid, who was sponsored by the Bible Chair.

Abby Guffy of Cherokee was crowned Freshman Queen during the Ranger Royalty Finalist banquet. She is majoring in health and sports science education.

The winner of the Northwestern homecoming button drawing for the $500 Alva Chamber Bucks was Tammy Brown of Alva. Brown is employed at Northwestern as an assistant professor of speech and the chair of the communication department.

Winner of the Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association medallion hunt was Ben and Regina Garvie. The Garvies won the medallion along with $100 in Alva Chamber Bucks.

Northwestern's on-campus activities had a great turnout of decorations that showed Ranger spirit.

First place for the on-campus Spirit Sheet Competition was the Wesley House, and second place went to the Northwestern Art Society.

First place for the on-campus Spirit Board Competition went to the Castle Players Theatre Club, and second place went to the Psychology Club.

The winning office/window display was awarded to the Business Office and the J.R. Holder Wellness Center received second.

The winning door/wall display went to the Recruitment Office and second place was the Dean of Faculty.

The winning dorm was Cunningham Hall and Coronado Hall received second place.

Northwestern's Homecoming Committee had a drawing incentive for button salespersons where two winners could take home $50 in Chamber Bucks. The winner of the drawing for button salespersons for on-campus sales was Shawna Gilbert, access services librarian and assistant professor of library science for Northwestern, and the winner for off-campus sales was Robin Turney.

"Thank you to everyone who sold and purchased Northwestern homecoming buttons and to those merchants who provided incentives to be used with these buttons," Karen Koehn, Homecoming button chair, said. "This is a fabulous community and the support invested in our university's homecoming is heartwarming. Our businesses continue to inspire me and restate my favorite saying 'Lucky me... I live in Alva, OK!'"

Button Winner! Dr. David Pecha (left), university executive vice president and homecoming chair, and Karen Koehn (right), homecoming button chair, presented the $500 in Alva Chamber Bucks to button winner Tammy Brown (center).

Homecoming is a community effort, and the homecoming committee is grateful to everyone who made the week and official homecoming day a success.

"Homecoming 2023 was a great day to celebrate our Rangers," said Dr. David Pecha, homecoming chairman and university executive vice president. "Many alumni of Northwestern attended and we are grateful to see family and friends take part in all our events."

Next year's Homecoming will be celebrated on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

Be watching for a contest to open during the spring semester to enter ideas for next year's homecoming theme and parade marshal. Until then, people may enter the competition at http://www.nwosu.edu/homecoming. The homecoming committee will consider all entries and make an announcement of the new theme and parade marshal during the spring semester.

Photos from the homecoming events can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nwosu-rangers/albums.