Join Summerville this Friday and Saturday night for their 2023 Homecoming. Tonight, Sept. 29 the Bears will compete against Calaveras with its JV team beginning at 5:00 p.m. and Varsity kicking off at 7:00 p.m.

The theme is white out and make sure to wear your Summerville apparel.

On Friday football nights at Summerville High School, one can always bet on a great game and an encouraging student section. Summerville’s Rally Commissioner and Homecoming King, Jameson Baldwin, expresses his experiences under the Friday Night Lights.

“Everyone contributes and that’s why we’re so awesome…and we’re going be at the top of the Student Section Leader Boards of Northern California and it’s going be a super- good time because we’re going to beat Calaveras,” said Baldwin

Summerville’s ASB has also been busy working on Tuolumne County and bear-themed lemonade stands to showcase at the Football game.

“Each group will have something different to sell at their stands. It’s a fundraiser as well as part of the Spirit Week,” Mrs. Soto commented.

While the seniors have decided on decorating their stand based off of Yosemite and Yogi Bear, the juniors agreed to Twain Harte and Winnie the Pooh as their theme.

Sophomores, on the other hand, chose the Sonora Pass and Smokey the Bear. Finally the freshmen decided that their first Homecoming lemonade stand would be themed Pinecrest and Boog Bear from Open Season.

When asked what his expectations were for his first Homecoming week, Freshman Ethan Brown shared his thoughts.

“I feel great because I’m going with the best person ever… and even if you’re not dating someone, you can still ask them and get to know them more at Hoco.”

Summerville’s ASB has been preparing for both the football game and the dance for several weeks. The ASB President, senior Cooper Knobloch, assisted in leading the student body and described which event he is most excited about.

“I think I’ll say the game because we don’t have to stay up as late and we don’t have to clean up after… [As president] I make sure people actually do stuff, not just sit around and be on their phones,” voiced Knobloch.

Friday night football is only the beginning. Saturday night from 8:00m P.M. to 11:00 P.M is Summerville’s Homecoming dance behind the gym, outside and under the stars.

Junior Makayla Rice expressed her excitement about having the dance outdoors, which has not been done in two years.

“I literally love it so much and I’m so excited because it brings back freshman [year] memories,” Rice stated.

Baldwin also depicted his expectations for the outside dance, compared to his previous years at Homecoming.

“You know, it’s colder so people all have to come together and like they’re forced to dance in one area, unlike in the gym where they’re all spread out, so it’s a lot more fun.”

According to Mrs. Soto, Homecoming preparation is much more work than what meets the eye.

“I feel like I have personally started preparing at the end of last [school] year because there are a lot of behind the scenes pieces that have to be done that are not necessarily done by students. By the time we get school started and all the other little pieces done, you have about two to three weeks to get stands and floats done,” Mrs. Soto said.

Cierra Bettencourt, ASB Activities Commissioner, explained what the Homecoming committee has done in preparation for the dance.

“We have sent out the song list and the package of what type of stuff we want at Homecoming to the DJ. So we’ve already gotten the whole song list from kids around the school and from some of our ASB kids and we picked ticket pricing and how many chaperones we need, which was 10 or 11.”

Overall, Summerville’s 2023 Homecoming has taken a great deal of time and effort to perfect the exciting festivities and it will surely be a great time.