Girls, polished and poised in their gowns, glide across the slick gym floor as their name is announced. Camera lights flash within the crowd, capturing the glitter reflected off of the vibrant decorations. For many, it is the most anticipated and cherished time of the school year. Homecoming. At first glance, the atmosphere appears to be picture-perfect.

Meanwhile, Student Council advisors, parents and students alike let out a sigh of relief within the stands. Eyes droop from late nights spent throwing together last-minute costumes and practicing skits. The exhausting hours spent decorating, planning, and shopping are finally coming to a close- all for this night.

Though the homecoming ceremony is organized and professional, preparations leading up to the date can be far from glamorous – and extremely hectic. As with most things in life, not everything goes exactly as planned, and obstacles are often presented.

Seniors Ashley Field and Blaire Wildy can vouch for this. In preparation for previous ceremonies, they’ve often improvised during stressful situations.

“My eighth-grade year, I decided I wasn’t going to get a spray tan for homecoming,” Blaire said. “So, I bought some tanning lotion and put it all over my legs. I got to school the next day and looked like a zebra. I had hand prints and streaks all over me. Ashley came to the rescue and called her dad to bring her ‘Tan in a Can’ to school, and Mrs. Mcfall said she’d spray tan me. During my lunch that day, we went into her student council closet and she sprayed me. I stood there a good twenty minutes while it was drying.”

Field acted quickly to an unexpected malfunction her eighth-grade year as well.

“It was my first year and I didn’t really know how to do my hair,” Ashley said. “So, I went to this new lady in Jonesboro and I told her I wanted a Barbie flip like I had always done for pageants in the past. I get in there and my mom tells her that she likes big, poofy hair. But when she turned me around in the chair, I almost had a panic attack because I looked like I belonged in the 50s. My hair looked like something out of ‘Grease’ or a musical. I was so embarrassed. So, on the way home, my mom called Blaire’s grandma, Doris Blankenship, and we went over to her house. She brushed all of the tease out of my hair and re-curled the ends. Thankfully, she saved my hair disaster that night.” 

While many maids often come across such unlucky occurrences, they’re not the only ones who are met with minor obstacles before the ceremony. Jr. High Student Council advisor, Mrs. Nancy Spencer, recalls various unwanted situations while decorating the Leachville gym.

“We had an arch that wouldn’t stay up one year. We had to tie it to the ceiling with fighting string,” Spencer said.

She also looks back on her first year in the Student Council advisor position – the year she forgot to order a crown.

“When Mr. Hurst and I discovered the oversight, which was about six hours before homecoming, he frantically called everyone he could think of to borrow a crown from,” she said. “Luckily, there was an extra left over from the school pageant the year before. Now, when we start preparing for homecoming week, he always asks if I remembered to order the crown. In fact, I’m sure he’ll ask me again before this week is over.”