Chapter Places 3rd Overall in Homecoming - Fall 1986 (CDT Story)
Parade Goes Slip, Slidin' Away
By Jackie Ward - Times Staff Writer
Friday night's Penn State Homecoming parade ran into a mudslide in the beginning but eventually got rolling, said Andrew Hanna, parade chairman.
About 7,000 to 8,000 parade watchers lined College Avenue Friday evening to watch the parade, which was to begin at 5:30 p.m., but did not catch their first glimpse of the parade until about 6:30 p.m.
The parade started at the Intramural Building on campus at 5:31 p.m., but the first few floats had trouble getting over a muddy hill caused by rain throughout the day. Hanna said The problem caused about a 20-minute delay which pushed back the time that downtown viewers got to see the parade. he said.
Despite the slow start, the parade was a success because of the high number of floats. Hanna said
"lt got a little dark at the end because it was so long but it went very well." he said.
This year's parade had 78 participating groups. making it the largest ever. Hanna said.
Top honors in the parade went to the float featuring a lounging lion and a globe that opened to show a spinning heart, made by Phi Sigma Kappa and Alpha Xi Delta sorority.
Second place for floats went to Sigma Chi fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority, for their lion lounging in a beach chair, beer mug in hand.
Third place went to Theta Chi fraternity and its little sisters. Whose float depicted the "Wizard of Oz" theme with an Emerald City and the Oz characters.
Fraternities competed in the float. Madhatter, banner and window painting categories.
Overall winners were Sigma Chi fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority. Second place winners were Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and Alpha Xi Delta sorority. Third place went to Theta Chi fraternity and its little sisters.
Despite an all-night vigil to protect the Nittany Lion statue on campus, Friday night, the lion still received some damage over the weekend.
The letters "SU" were painted on the statue's left side between 1-1:45 an. Sunday. said Clifford Lutz of the Penn State police.
Five cars in the 83 West parking lot on campus were also spray painted with "SU” and "SU #” sometime Saturday. The damage was reported at 9 p m Saturday. Lutz said.
Other than the vandalism reports, the weekend was fairly quiet. Lutz said.
Penn State police said Saturday the number of game-related incidents was “fairly steady" but this year's homecoming-related problems were not as bad as in some years.
