Just as it has for more than a century, the University of Iowa Homecoming Parade wound its way through the streets of downtown Iowa City on Friday. This being an Iowa City parade, local realtors were well represented among the groups marching, and almost all the groups in the parade distributed candy to kids along the route (as well as some who would be correctly classified as “kids at heart”).
Most kids brought plastic bags to hold their candy haul, and the better prepared ones brought plastic buckets. The contingent from Procter & Gamble balanced the scales a bit by handing out the company’s toothbrushes as well as candy.
Local nonprofits including Community Inclusion Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County and Systems Unlimited joined the parade. The marchers from Systems Unlimited, which has been helping people with disabilities live with greater independence for more 50 years, was one of the groups that struck a Halloween note six days ahead of the holiday, with some members in Beetlejuice-inspired costumes.
As is expected in an Iowa City parade during an election year, there were political groups present. At least along the Clinton Street leg of the parade, a small group representing the UI College Republicans, complete with marchers waving Trump 2024 flags, received a smattering of boos. A larger contingent from Johnson County Democrats, with Harris-Walz signs, got a much friendlier reception.
But it was Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America that received the loudest cheers of any political group.
There was plenty of John-Philip-Sousa-worthy music as the parade was bracketed by the UI Alumni Band at its beginning and the Hawkeye Marching Band at the end. Between, marching bands from all three local high schools performed.
There were also non-band-affiliated baton twirlers and marchers, and a couple of UI organizations for the rhythmically inclined, Dance Marathon and Social Dance Club.
Ahead of the parade on Friday, it was reported that Caitlin Clark, Kate Martin and Gabbie Mitchell were returning to Iowa City for homecoming weekend. The three women’s basketball stars didn’t appear in the parade, although they did attend the game on Saturday. Along with the 2023-24 team (and their trophy as the NCAA National Championship runners-up), IWBB alumni Megan Gustafson and Tomi Taiwo also appeared at Kinnick to accept praise for their Paris Olympics performances on the Spanish and Nigerian basketball teams, respectively.
The closest the parade came to featuring a star from the Hawkeyes women’s team was a large photo of Hannah Stuelke on the float from Riverside Casino and Golf Resort.
It’s perhaps understandable the parade didn’t highlight the most spectacular UI sports team of recent years, since homecoming is focused on football, where the Hawkeyes have a more mixed record. This year’s grand marshal was Chuck Long, a great UI quarterback from the 1980s who also was on the team’s coaching staff in the 1990s.
As a quarterback, Long set a new school record for pass completions and led the Hawkeyes to a memorable victory over the University of Tennessee in the 1982 Peach Bowl. But he’s probably best remembered for the 1985 victory in which top-ranked Iowa defeated number 2 Michigan, 12-10.
On Saturday, the Hawkeyes scored a much more decisive victory against the Northwestern University Wildcats, 40-14.
