Rain, rain stay away! SEMO officials keep close eye on homecoming weather forecast

Southeast Missouri State University's homecoming parade is an annual must-see event for many in, around and beyond Cape Girardeau. And this year's parade will be bigger than ever as it is part of the university's sesquicentennial celebration.

However, the parade's planners and participants are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast for this weekend.

On two previous occasions, the parade was rained out — most notably during the homecoming celebration of the university's centennial anniversary in 1973.

Jane Stacy was the university's alumni director that year and had the responsibility of heading up the planning committee for all the homecoming events for SEMO's 100th. It was Stacy's first year in the position and she had been mandated by Mark Scully, university president from 1956 to 1975, to make sure everything came off without a hitch.

However, even the best planning couldn't stop the rain.

"And it wasn't one of these little fast rains that was going to let up," Stacy said. "It rained steadily, and water was just flowing down the street, really deep everywhere. Every float got wet, and some of them got big-time wet, and they're just made out of paper and so they just kind of melted and floated away."

Stacy said president Scully called her and said it was too dangerous and the parade had to be canceled. She said people were disappointed but decided to make the best of it, some of them even started dancing in the rain.

"I mean, it wasn't like people were standing around bewailing the fact that they had come home for homecoming, and this was what they got," Stacy said. "They just turned their thoughts to finding some place dry and something to eat before the football game."

Even though Houck Field was a "muddy mess," Stacy said the match between the Redhawks and the Indians of Kirksville Teachers College went on.

More recently

The second time the parade was rained out happened during SEMO's 2019 homecoming weekend.

George Gasser, SEMO's current alumni director, said that was also his first year in the job and he had been "so excited" for homecoming.

"But the closer we got to the day, the worse the weather forecast looked," Gasser said. "The day before, it was like 80% chance. So, of course, we're all saying, 'Hey, there's 20% chance it won't rain. Gotta be hopeful, right?'"

But the rain did fall, and the parade was canceled.

"It was a torrential downpour," Gasser said. "I remember seeing a picture of one of the floats. It was still raining and there was just tissue paper everywhere, and I said, 'Good thing we didn't do this.'"

This weekend

This year, the forecast for SEMO's homecoming parade Saturday is looking better. The National Weather Service station in Paducah, Kentucky, shows the weather in Cape Girardeau will be mostly sunny with a high near 62 degrees.

This is good news for the floats, bands and everyone else marching in the parade, as well as the thousands of people expected to be lining Broadway and Main Street from Capaha Park to downtown Cape Girardeau.

Russell Goss, chairman of the student parade committee, said the parade's theme this year is "150 Years of Tradition". He said there were more than a hundred separate entries for the parade, including five marching bands and 30 floats.

Goss said four bands are from nearby high schools as well as SEMO's marching band. He said seven floats were created by student groups and 23 made by community businesses with decorations inspired by styles of decades from 1940 to 2000.

However, even though it's clear skies for the parade, Gasser said he is worried about Friday's forecast for the university's first ever homecoming kickoff block party. Gasser said the block party was a special event planned for the sesquicentennial celebration.

The forecast for Friday shows a chance of showers and possible thunderstorms that could pose a problem for the block party that will be held at 4:30 p.m. on SEMO's campus on Normal Street between Academic Hall and Kent Library.

Rain or shine, Gasser said they are determined for this to be the biggest and best homecoming celebration in SEMO history.