Homecoming Members of the class of 1964 gather at their designated table on the from lawn during the Alumni Picnic held before the Homecoming game. Many alumn i returned to campus fo r the festivi ties, including members ofthe class of1949. who were inducted into the Golden Circle, an honor give n to those who have been alumni of Harding for 50 years or more. Pres ident David Burks passes out awards during the annual Black and Gold Banquet held for Qumanding alumni and friends ofHa rdi ng. Those in attendance were enterrained by various music groups including a performance by the McLai n twins. In addition , speeches were given and a number of awards were presented on Friday evening of Homecoming weekend. cJJuffalo Cxpress rolEs into town The rumble of buffalo hooves and the cheers of thousands of spectators could be heard allover the Harding campus Friday night, Oct. 22, as T.e. Thorstenson of the Buffalo Express entertained the crowd with the Stunts of his trained buffalo at the Homecoming football pep rally. An estimated 3,000 people were in at tendance at the pep rally, according to Brian Bush, Student Association (S.A.) president. The live buffalo performance was intended co represent the University's nearly identical Bison masco t and increase school spirit for the next day's footbal l game, Bush said. "Seeing the buffalo really pumped the crowd up," he said. "We have never had anyth ing that big as long as 1 can remember. " . Thorstenson began Friday evening's performance by displaying the simple tricks and stunts that Harvey, the buffalo, had been trained to execute before large crowds. The show was capped off with Thorstenson riding Harvey through a fl aming hoop of fire which was supported by several Bison players. "The pep rally and the buffalo were really neat," Andrea Alderman, senior, said. "The school spirit was the highes t 1 have ever seen it on campus. " Although the Buffalo Express only arrived on campus shortly before the pep rally began at 11 p.m. that night. plans for the event were a long time in coming. According to Bush, a Homecomi ng committee including Liz H owell and Dana Evans, both of the alumni office, Kell ieBlickenstaff, sponsor for thecheerleaders, Robin Mi ller, professor ofcommunication and himself, discussed the possibili ty of having the Buffalo Express show come for homecoming activities. "This is something that 1 have been wanting to do for a long time," Bush said. "During the summer 1 36 Student Life started making a lo t of calls and finally found Thorstenson. " In addition to the performance and demonstration led by Thorstenson and Harvey, the cheerleaders led the crowd in several cheers and, with the fans, welcomed the footbal l team Onto the field . "I was really impressed wirh the amount of people that showed up, " Jamie Kulild, sophomore cheerleader, said. "We have never had this much school spirit before. I hope that the bison performance and pep rally will become a tradition. " Saturday's game proved to be a big crowd draw as well. With a ful l audience of students. families and alumn i, the Bison team earned a 30 - 7 victory over East Central University. "I am thoroughly impressed with our school." Kulild said. "It seemed that peop le were really paying attention to the game and watching the team. " Pregame activities included a People Parade, which began in front of the Reynold 's Center for Music and Commun ication and ended on the fi eld. Th e homecom ing quee n nominees - N ikki Lawrence, senior, Heather Gray, sophomore. and Amanda Alton, senior - were featured in the procession. as well as the four class representatives - Becky Pratt, senior, Bridget Johnson. junior, Hope SmiIor, sophomore, and Amanda Stevens, freshman. AltOn was announced as this year's queen during the game's halftime celebration. The Ted Lloyd track, which underwent resurfaci ng before the weekend , was rededicated prior to kick off. "If you could have written a script for the Homecomi ng weekend, it could not have been better," Bush said. "Everything was great." - Elizabeth Smith
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