By Lisa Johnson
From crowns to briefcases and pancakes to a five-foot cake, BYU?s Homecoming Parade is full of it ? tradition that is.
For more than 100 years students, faculty and alumni alike have taken part in the parade traditions.
BYU alumna Lynda Hinckley, started attending BYU in 1967 and said she recalls both watching and participating in the Homecoming parades.
?I still remember dancing up University Avenue my freshman year,? said Hinckley, who graduated in home economics and resides in Spokane, Wash. ?We danced to ?The Pink Panther,? and I think we even wore a pink leotard and little ears.?
Homecoming at BYU essentially started in 1891, though it wasn?t called that until 1930. Gordon Daines, BYU archivist, said Homecoming evolved from what was originally called Founder?s Day.
Benjamin Cluff Jr., Brigham Young Academy?s first president, initiated Founder?s Day, according to BYU archives. Cluff encouraged alumni to support the school, encouraged school spirit and started traditions that still carry on today ? including the Homecoming parade.
Parade routes differ from the original one. Daines said the first parade started at the Provo Tabernacle, continued down University Avenue and ended at the Academy Building. In the late 1980s, the course moved north to travel around campus, according to BYU archives.
Hinckley said she loved the time she had at BYU.
?I think it?s the traditions and being involved that made my time at BYU great,? Hinckley said.
The pancake breakfast is a long-standing Homecoming tradition. Hinckley said she remembers walking up to the field by Deseret Towers to eat pancakes before the parade her sophomore year in 1968.
That same year the ?world?s largest cake? appeared on a float in the parade. It was five feet high, six feet wide, 40 feet long and weighed six tons. According to archives, students baked 6,000 boxed yellow cake mixes and bound them together with white icing. Crews then lifted sections onto the flatbed truck. After the parade, the cake was distributed to fans during the football game.
One parade tradition that no longer continues at BYU is that of the Homecoming queen. The first Homecoming queen was chosen in 1937. According to archives, as part of their concern that all students receive the same social opportunities, former BYU president, Ernest L. Wilkinson, and the board of trustees gradually de-emphasized campus beauty contests.
A more recent tradition, the ?briefcase brigade,? has participated in the Homecoming parade since the 1980s, according to Daily Universe archives. Students of the J. Reuben Clark Law School wear a suit jacket, while holding a briefcase. But they also wear the brightest shorts they can find. The briefcase brigade still takes part in the parade today.
These Homecoming parade festivities will continue this Saturday. The annual pancake breakfast will start at 8 a.m. in various locations along the parade route. The parade will start at 10 a.m. at the Marriott Center east parking lot.
Delynne Peay, a folk dance director, said the different traditions in the parade are something she enjoys. She said she?s glad her teams are able to take part in it every year.
?We love it,? Peay said. ?We absolutely love it. We wish we could get more students to come out, but we still love it.?