“Fifty years will come faster than you think it will.”

Carolyn Kinsella graduated from MCHS back in 1973. Kinsella experienced the first Homecoming in Minooka’s history during her senior year.

“We really didn’t know what it was because we’ve never had one before,” Kinsella said. “We’d never experienced it.” 

The differences between the first Minooka Homecoming 50 year ago and now are quite remarkable. A typical Homecoming week here at MCHS looks as follows: themed dress up days for the entire week, movie nights, backyard bashes, the infamous girls powderpuff game, talent shows, parades, pep rallies, and probably the most important one of all — the big Homecoming football game. 

“We didn’t really have a football team (in the past); our big thing was boys basketball,” Kinsella said.

The first football team started in 1971 when the football field was built. The second year of football in 1972 included mostly a JV schedule and games against other second-year programs like Seneca. Homecoming became a breakthrough for football and its popularity at MCHS.

The first-ever Homecoming Week at Minooka included a parade, a pep rally, a bonfire, and the football game itself. It did not have themed dress-up days, alongside all the other weekly events Minooka has now. 

On Thursday, Oct. 5, 1972, according to the Peace Pipe Chatter, a pep rally was held in the school gym. Later that day, the Homecoming parade took place with the marching band, floats, the Homecoming court, and the cheerleaders. 

“I remember the excitement of going over to friends’ houses after school to decorate the floats for the parade,” Kinsella said.

On Friday, Oct. 6, the pep rally was held on the baseball field (where the current field is) at 7 p.m. According to Craig Williamson, Class of 1973, that night the school bonfire was also held on the dirt infield of the baseball field.  A snake dance where students held hands and danced around also occurred then. 

The football game was held on Saturday, Oct. 7. Minooka took home the win against Seneca 45-12. 

The first ever Homecoming Dance kicked off that night.

“There were a lot of people that came to the Homecoming dance,” Kinsella said.

Over a third of the school showed up, which came out to around 300 students in total. 

With a huge turnout, there were bright lights, food and drinks, and you guessed it — lots and lots of ’70s music. According to the Peace Pipe Chatter, the music was provided by a live band. 

Surprisingly, the dress choices from the ’70s compared to now, weren’t that much different.

“Short. Obscenely short,” Kinsella said. “Halter tops and cut shoulders were very popular.” 

The Homecoming court in 1972 compared to today had just one major difference: one king and one queen. That’s it. 

Nancy Goldasich was crowned Homecoming queen while football player John Bogart was crowned Homecoming king. 

After a huge night of dancing and fun, the first ever Homecoming at MCHS in 1972 was a success.