On September 20 of this year Horizon had its homecoming dance. No matter the classes you’re in or the friends you have, Homecoming is an event many high school students look forward to. An overlooked part of homecoming, however, are the homecoming events. One of which, the most underrated, is the tailgate.
The day before homecoming we had our homecoming game (which estimated about 2000 attendees, selling 1678 student tickets). Before that we had our tailgate. A tailgate is where, before football games, people come together to give food, games, and fun. Not all high school games have sanctioned tailgates, but if you’ve ever hung out with family in the trunk of your uncle’s car before a football game, you’ve been to a tailgate.
Every year before the homecoming game, we have the tailgate. Clubs, food trucks, and students come together to make something extremely fun. But is it worth it? Should you actually go to the tailgate?
Jonah Croissant, a Senior who is a part of German National Honor Society, really liked the opportunity to help sell bratwursts, stating he “just thought it’d be fun, and [he] just wanted to put [himself] out there.” Croissant also mentioned the variety of people who came up to the stand, children, friends, and so many more. Croissant had never participated before, but loved how he was welcomed with open arms. If you would like to help out, many clubs participate, and every year they love having new people come along.
One student who decided to come was Moa Goeth. Goeth is a Junior transfer student this year from Sweden, she really enjoyed the tailgate, she wanted to since her “friends were going and they thought it would be fun… and [she’s] never gone before,” to any kind of tailgate. Goeth didn’t even know what it was until the day of the game. Unfortunately one of the food trucks didn’t have vegan options, so she recommended more food options for future tailgates.
Parents love the tailgate too! Jeni Voss, an alumni of the school and is the mother of a Horizon student, really likes them. Voss doesn’t personally go, but with her senior child having gone every year, she’s heard a lot about the tailgate. She stated, “the reports that I usually get is about how much fun [her child and their friends had].” The tailgate is a great way to hang out with friends with fun games and delicious food.
Speaking of the food, a consistent food-truck for the tailgates is an ice cream truck na
med Mc2. Lindsey Casarez is one of the owners and spoke with me about the tailgate. Mc2 makes all their own flavors and toppings, and each ice cream is so unique, winning the “Guinness World Record for Most Ice Cream Flavors at Once.” This food truck has flavors for everyone, having at least one every time that’s vegan and many being naturally gluten free. Casarez also really liked that “who sets all of this up are students, which is another thing [she thinks] is really cool… that’s never happened, it’s usually just grown-ups.” Students are able to understand student needs much better, so they are able to make decisions that make the tailgate more and more fun each year.
The homecoming tailgate is so exciting for so many reasons, club stands bring games that you find students playing over and over, there’s plenty of delicious food to go around, and even if you want to stand alone with your friends, the open air provides lots of space to just hang out. If you want to take a sliver of time to go, it’ll be an amazing time.
