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Junior Class Float
Hi, I'm Deborah, I'm a junior, and this is the story of the junior class homecoming float, start to finish. This year's homecoming theme was Pirates of the Prairie and every class built a float for the parade. We built a PIRATE SHIP. On a hay wagon. In Matt's family's machine shed, every night for two weeks. Click the little pictures to see them bigger.
Sunday, Sept. 12 ~ THE PLAN
Class meeting at Matt's house. Ideas were a covered wagon, a giant cowboy boot, and a pirate ship. Pirate ship won by a LOT. Jenny drew the whole thing on graph paper right there at the kitchen table, with measurements and everything, and Mrs. Pinkston (our class sponsor) said "go for it." Matt's dad said we could use the hay wagon as long as we didn't hurt it.
Monday, Sept. 13 ~ THE FRAME
Matt's dad backed the wagon into the shed. The guys cut 2x4s for the ribs and we started stapling on the chicken wire. Chicken wire is EVIL. It scratches you through your sweatshirt. By the end of the night it looked like a boat skeleton, which is what this picture is. Pizza, 2 large. The pole in the middle is for the mast.
Tues. to Thurs., Sept. 14-16 ~ CHICKEN WIRE FOREVER
More chicken wire. Then cutting tissue paper into squares, every free minute, at lunch, in study hall, on the bus. Ericka did the math and said we needed around 40,000 squares. Everybody laughed. She was right.Fri., Sept. 17
Away game, no building. (We won.)Sat. and Sun., Sept. 18-19 ~ PURPLE PURPLE PURPLE
All day Saturday stuffing. You twist each square around the end of a pencil and poke it into a hole in the wire. Over and over and over. We had a boom box going and took turns picking tapes.
Monday, Sept. 20 ~ STUFFING
That's me on the left in the gray, then Meagan, then Jenny laughing at something Heath said. You can see how far we got: the bottom half purple, the top half still bare. Our fingers were purple for a week because the tissue color comes off when your hands sweat.
Tuesday, Sept. 21
The gold stripe along the top and the gold front part (Jenny says it's called the prow).Wednesday, Sept. 22 ~ THE NIGHT THE MAST FELL OVER
Somebody opened the big door, a gust came through, and the WHOLE MAST came down, right across the side of the ship, and smashed a big dent in the purple. Nobody got hurt. Joy cried a little. Aaron and Heath fixed it with a 2x4 brace and some wire, and we re-stuffed the dent until 11. It's stronger now than before.Thursday, Sept. 23 ~ THE ALL-NIGHTER
The last night. The sail (an old white bedsheet from Jenny's mom), the pirate flag (black felt with a white skull and crossbones that Crystal painted), the plank, the cannons (carpet tubes painted black), and the treasure chest (a box painted gold). We finished at 4:30 in the morning. Somebody's mom brought donuts at 5. We all went to school on about two hours of sleep. Not recommended.
Friday, Sept. 24 ~ HOMECOMING!!!
Matt's dad pulled it out of the shed in the morning so we could see it in daylight for the first time. Doesn't it look AWESOME? Purple hull, gold stripe, gold prow, white sail, pirate flag, cannons, treasure chest and a plank. I could have stared at it all day. Instead we had a pep assembly.
The parade started at 2:30 down Main Street. Matt's dad pulled us with his pickup, and half a dozen of us at a time rode on the deck in our purple class shirts throwing Tootsie Rolls. I took this one from the curb because it was my turn to walk. You can see the candy flying!
The game was at 7. This is from the top of the student section, with the stadium lights on and everybody in purple and gold. WE WON, 28 to 14. At halftime they announced the floats: seniors first, juniors second, sophomores third, freshmen fourth. The seniors' float was a treasure map. A FLAT treasure map. On a trailer. We were robbed, and everybody knows it, even some seniors.
But honestly? Second place is fine. Building it was the best two weeks of the year so far. Next year we're seniors and our float is going to be so big they'll have to close Main Street for a week.
THANK YOU!!!
- Matt, and Matt's mom and dad, for the shed, the wagon, the pickup and SO much pizza
- Mrs. Pinkston, for staying until 11 three nights in a row
- Jenny, for the design (and the bedsheet)
- Meagan, for never once complaining about the chicken wire
- Ericka, for the math
- Aaron and Heath, for saving the mast
- Crystal, for the flag
- Joy, Terri, Noel and Alexis, for stuffing about a million squares
- Everybody in the Class of '01 who stuffed even one square
The pictures are from two disposable cameras. I took them to the one-hour photo at the grocery store Saturday morning and scanned them on my dad's scanner. Sorry they're kind of dark, the flash on those things only goes about three feet.
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Last updated Sunday, September 26, 1999
