A little Homecoming nostalgia. . .

I have a song by Kenny Chesney in my head right now, “The Boys of Fall.”

“Standin’ in the huddle listenin’ to the call

Fans goin’ crazy for the boys of fall”

Yes, it’s Homecoming, and this time of year, I drift back to the autumns of my youth.

I’m a football fan to the core. It’s one of the only things I actually like about the fall season, in fact, other than the beauty of the leaves changing color. If I’m home and there’s a game to watch, it’s probably on the flat screen in my living room. The background noise of referee whistles, coach calls, and player chants is like music to my ears.

I think back to high school, when I traveled with the football team as a varsity cheerleader for five years. The memories of those Friday nights beneath the lights, decked out in Russell, my insulated athletic pants and cheerleading jersey, chanting encouragement to the team and riling up the fans.

We scrimmaged against New Rockford, and I remember traveling here from Fessenden to watch. Although the Rockets played 11-man ball at the time, it gave our boys a chance to test their skills before the official season began.

For Homecoming, we made dozens of posters to raise money for new uniforms, pom poms and supplies. Local businesses paid us $5 or $10 to hand-paint signs on rolled paper, and those signs lined the fence of the football field on Homecoming Friday.

We painted our faces, enjoyed a little class competition in the “old gym,” crowned a king and queen, and led a raucous pep rally at the end of the school day.

While it’s fun to look back, I’m also present in this moment. As I write this, I await the announcement of the 2022 NR-S Homecoming Court.

And I hum another verse of the song:

“In little towns like mine that’s all they got

Newspaper clippings fill the coffee shops

The old men will always think they know it all

Young girls will dream about the boys of fall”

This one hits me differently now than it did before, as I’m the publisher of those newspaper clippings, and I sometimes hear the banter in the coffee shop about the local team’s prospects for the year.

I also married a football player. It was destiny, I guess you could say. After all, I spent a lot of time on the field as a teenager.

I spent a little time today talking to the Independent staff, and they all have memories of Homecoming. Lori remembers going to her Homecoming football game when she was a freshman in college to see her high school friends and watch her younger brother play. To her, Homecoming is about alumni returning. Leasa’s Homecoming experiences were a bit different than ours, as she grew up in Palm Springs, Calif. There the biggest festivity wasn’t a football game, but rather a formal dance. Her mom made her dress one year, and she got her hair done by a stylist who had just broken up with her boyfriend! Everything turned out fine, including her hair, and she went to the dance with a water polo player!

Now that my own son is on the verge of his varsity career, the news of a co-op between NR-S and Maddock for football has also been top of mind lately. Juniors from the Maddock team came to watch the Rockets’ home game against North Border a couple of weeks ago, and now they will return Friday, this time in their game jerseys, for one last NR-S vs. Benson County contest. A fitting Homecoming, I say.

Yes, the only two things that are certain in life are change and death.

It’s when we admire that change, look forward to it, and seek it out that the best parts of life begin to reveal themselves.

Yes, we went through a change too. Fessenden, Bowdon, Hurdsfield and Sykeston had already formed a co-op for football in my earlier years, and then Fessenden and Bowdon consolidated their school districts starting with the 1997-98 school year. Students took part in choosing a new name and colors. We became the Wells County Bears, and traded in our orange for dark green.

Since then, the Sykeston school has become part of the Carrington school district, and Hurdsfield’s school combined with Harvey. Fessenden-Bowdon and Harvey now compete together as well, as the Harvey-Wells County Hornets. A lot has changed in 20+ years.

What hasn’t changed is, though, the way our communities show up for those boys of fall. Homecoming is one of the biggest social events of the school year, with activities planned all week long.

It’s only getting better for me, too. Now I get to cover the celebrations in two different communities.

NR-S, this is your week. Carrington, you’re up next. For all the details on the week’s events at NR-S, see page B4 of the Transcript. We’ll have Carrington’s schedule in next week’s Independent.

Readers, what are your Homecoming memories? I’d like to hear them. If you see me out during the events, feel free to chat me up.