10.23.2010

USU Homecoming Tradition

It's Homecoming week for Utah State University - and one thing we never miss is the Homecoming Parade. We're lucky to have Brookelyn, Bailee and Carter with us today (it's their parents' anniversary - happy 12th Aaron and Aimee). They were excited about the candy at the parade - they even decorated big paper bags this morning to hold their candy.

My niece Jennifer was working on a USU class project to take photos and video of the parade to put on the USU television channel. Jennifer's majoring in journalism and she's a reporter for the TV broadcasts. Her story 'angle' was that our family has been meeting at this same corner for 57 years to watch the Homecoming Parade. We know it's 57, says my dad, because I was a five-month-old baby when they watched their first parade. Dad was working as manager of the Firestone store that was located on this corner.

Four generations of Stevensons have stood in this spot through sunshine and snow, marching bands and small-town floats (with princesses wearing Aggie sweatshirts), political campaigners and lots and lots of BIG trucks...a staple of parades in Cache Valley.

As we watched Michael and Carter scrambling to get tootsie rolls and dum-dum suckers, we remembered Aaron as a two year old and baby Suzie in a stroller and marveled that so much has changed, yet so much has stayed the same.