Lock Haven University’s homecoming festivities may be over, but the level of school spirit remains high as the winners of the 11th annual golf cart parade were announced on Oct. 5.
Director of Student Involvement, Kim Harris made the announcement three weeks after the homecoming parade during the monthly club leadership meeting hosted by Student Activities. Award recipients were not notified beforehand.
A total of seven winners were chosen based on five eligible categories: “Most Creative,” “Best Use of Theme,” “Best Use of Club Purpose and Parade Theme,” “Judges Choice,” and “Best Overall.” Each winner received a certificate and $200 for its special activity fund.
Those responsible for judging the golf carts included a group of faculty, staff, and student representatives from Haven Activities Council (HAC), who were deemed ineligible to win.
The first award of the evening went to the Eagle Eye student newspaper. The group’s cart was decorated as an airplane that resembled an eagle holding a newspaper in its beak. Eagle Eye won “Most Creative” for their use of construction paper feathers that were individually cut out and taped to the golf cart by hand.
“I am really proud to have spearheaded our golf cart design and very thankful for the staff members who were able to sit and cut feathers for me, as we needed an obnoxious amount of them,” said Eagle Eye Sports Editor, Ashley Lawson.
“Best Use of Theme” was given next to two winners: Sigma Kappa and Fairview Suites. Judges determined the award recipient for this category based on how well the golf cart designs reflected the predetermined homecoming theme “Adventure Awaits.” Sigma Kappa reinvented its cart into the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. While the Resident Assistants from Fairview Suites recreated a Finding Nemo under-the-sea fantasyland.
Sigma Kappa president Erin Ondik commented on what the award meant to her as a club leader. She also noted that her organization intends on using the award money for event planning later this semester.
“We have always done the golf cart parade just for fun and never really for the money that came with it. It is a great way to promote our sorority and bring the girls’ creativity together to produce an end product. Coming from the president, winning gave me the most joy ever seeing that something the girls have worked hard on and put their time into was seen by not only myself but by the judges as well.”
Geoscience Club secured the third winning spot for “Best Use of Club Purpose and Parade Theme.” Members converted their golf cart into a National Park Ranger vehicle with a hand-drawn landscape showcased on the side.
“Geoscience already had a good feel about what its club purpose was beforehand, and they tied it in well with the parade theme. It was pretty much a no brainer to give them the award,” said Ben Adam who was one of the HAC student representatives in charge of judging.
“Judges Choice” was the penultimate award given out to both the Boxing Club and the Cheerleading team. Harris noted during the meeting this category was difficult to make a final decision; therefore, two winners were determined.
Boxing Club’s cart resembled an actual boxer with a helmet on the front and moveable gloves on the sides. The Cheerleading squad tapped into their Disney spirit by recreating the iconic house from Pixar’s “Up.” They even attached balloons to the roof of their golf cart.
The final award for “Best Overall” was presented to the Early Childhood Education Club for its recreation of Alice in Wonderland. The club’s cart incorporated several significant symbols from the film such as the White Rabbit’s pocket watch and Queen of Hearts. The infamous rabbit hole was also featured on the back of the cart. Some of the club members even dressed up as characters from the movie to walk in the parade while holding a sign titled ‘We are all learners here.’ as a spin-off of the movie quote ‘We are all mad here.’
Several factors are considered by the judges when determining the winners. Carts are first reviewed for their use of parade themes. In order to be eligible for an award, the decorated carts must portray a concept that accurately reflects or makes sense with the year’s predetermined theme.
Golf carts are then reviewed based on club purpose, visual aesthetics, creativity, and event commitment based on the amount of hard work and effort put into cart designs. While judging mostly occurred after the conclusion of the homecoming parade, judges also took note of how much work went into each cart’s preparation during the three allotted decoration days.
After the announcement, Harris mentioned how LHU’s Homecoming is always an “exciting” time for her.
“The LHU Homecoming Golf Cart Parade is my favorite day of the year. So much planning, preparation, and hard work go into making it happen, not only from Student Involvement, the Rec Center Staff and the Haven Activities Council, but by the students in clubs who dedicate hours of their time during an extremely busy part of the semester to create amazing carts! Every year I’m blown away by the creativity of our students.”
Kerri Hoover
Kerri Hoover is in her third year working on the Eagle Eye staff and currently serves as the President and Editor-in-Chief. As a Lock Haven University senior, she majors in Communication with a triple-concentration focus in Advertising & Public Relations, Electronic Media, and Journalism. With her versatile skill set, Kerri hopes to pursue a career working as a social media content creator, journalist, or video editor. On the rare occasion Kerri isn’t working in the newsroom, she can be found hanging out with her friends, working at the PUB, or creating content for the LHU Media and Journalism Department.
