by Gabe Mielke ‘16
Two gyms. One night. Countless hours of preparation. 789 couples. 104 pieces of neon paint splattered black paper. Over $1,000.00 made by Mitchell’s Ice Cream. More than twenty assorted neon and black lights. A single, massive, neon American Flag.
This accurately describes the atmosphere and overall experience of Saint Ignatius High School’s 2014 homecoming dance. This year’s dance sported a seductive combination of America and neon as its theme, appropriately titled: “America A Glowbal Power.”
The student response to this year’s theme was great, with 789 bids having been sold by the Student Senate.
“The music definitely could have been better, I would’ve like to hear more hip-hop and recently released music,” Dre’Mont Jones ‘15 said of the dance.
Jones wasn’t alone in his negative review of the music choices. Nate Keirn ‘16 strongly agreed stating, “The music was subpar at best, I requested the song “Blue Monday” seven times and it was never played!”
Conversely, Brock Yoho ‘16 argued, “The music was much better than last year’s, I was shaking it all over the dance floor.”
Despite the mixed reviews on the music, this year’s vibrant decorations and addition of Mitchell’s Ice Cream were greatly appreciated. “The decorations this year were pretty solid, the music was decent, and Mitchell’s Ice Cream was spot on,” said Joe Mertens ‘15.
The most talked about occurrence of the night, however, was arguably the fire alarm that went off in Sullivan Gymnasium, and the subsequent evacuation onto Lorain Avenue within the first hour of the dance. Theories have been circulating about what caused the alarm ranging from the fog machine in Sullivan Gym to an unwitting student accidentally opening a designated emergency exit. “The dance was a lot of fun, but the fire alarm going off was the best part,” said Michael Hyland ‘18.
Student Senate moderator, Mr. Bill Kelly ‘62, thought this year’s dance was very well executed and applauded the Student Senate Slate members, especially President Pat Mulach ‘15, on their hard work in preparation for the event. On his opinion of the execution of the event, Secretary Connor Schumacher ‘15 said, “There was a lot more enthusiasm surrounding the dance than there usually is, I don’t know if it was because of the theme or the fact that Mitchell’s Ice Cream was there this year. It definitely turned out the way we wanted it to.”
Ultimately, Ryan Mullin ‘17 described Homecoming 2014 best by saying it was “no doubt, most definitely, undeniably, a downright banger.”
