By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer

PELHAM – With a Homecoming parade and community pep rally, Pelham gathered around the Panthers as students celebrated Homecoming week with activities and events leading up to the big game.

On Thursday, Oct. 3, the community flocked to Pelham City Park and gathered on the edges of Bearden Road for the Panther Prowl Parade as students hung off the sides of convertibles, trucks and trailers, waving at the crowd.

Members of different Pelham High School organizations and sports threw candy into the crowd as younger kids from Parks and Rec youth sports teams followed in their footsteps.

Pelham City Councilmember Rick Wash commented on the festive proceedings.

“I was fortunate to attend the Pelham High School Homecoming Parade, which was a great parade, a good crowd,” Wash said. “It was wonderful to see all the high school kids and all the middle school kids and both elementary schools represent the city well. Things like that always warm my heart to see. People take a lot of pride in Pelham and in the schools.”

The end of the parade deposited the Panthers in Pelham City Park where the second half of the evening commenced: the community pep rally.

The community pep rally featured a host of events from performances from the PHS band, cheerleading and dance teams. There was even a special TikTok dance competition where groups from each school displayed their favorite viral dance moves.

Wash joined other Pelham council members such as City Council President Maurice Mercer as a judge for the competition.

“I’ve seen all of us dance, and Council President Mercer is the only one of us that can dance even a little bit,” Wash said. “I have zero rhythm, but hey, it didn’t matter. I could still judge and it was great.”

In addition, the community pep rally introduced a new tradition of the Senior-Kindergarten Walk.

At the end of the pep rally, the kindergartners and seniors gathered at opposite sides of the football field. Both groups walked toward each other and merged in the middle, exchanging gifts.

Mercer shared that he was most impacted by the new tradition bridging the gaps between age groups.

“It’s always a wonderful time to see the smiles of everybody together during the community pep rally,” Mercer said. “If you haven’t been to that, it was just electrifying to see people from all ages. They started a new event this year where the kindergarten walked out to be the seniors and that was that was pretty nostalgic there.”

The goal of the community pep rally is not only to gather the community, but also to generate excitement for the Homecoming game the following evening.

During the evening, PHS football captain Jaylyn Bonner addressed the crowd.

“I just want to come out here and thank you all for four long years of support, giving us all your energy,” Bonner said. “Thank you all.”

The next evening on Friday, Oct. 4, the Homecoming game against the Spain Park Jaguars did not end in Pelham’s favor, but that did not stop the student body from celebrating everything it means to be a Panther at Homecoming dance on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Now, Pelham turns its attention to the next football game against the Helena High School Huskies on Friday, Oct. 11.