Homecoming this year will be action-packed at West High School on Friday, Oct. 9, as several organizations offer activities leading up to the game at 7:30 p.m. against Marion-Franklin. 

Athletic Boosters

The West High School Athletic Boosters invite all WHS alumni athletes to attend the first ever Alumni Athlete Homecoming Dinner on that evening. Your $15 ticket will include dinner and admission to the game. Dinner is open to the first 200 guests and will be served from 5 – 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. All proceeds will benefit the booster’s scholarship fund for outstanding senior athletes.  

It is requested that you e-mail whsboosterevents@yahoo.com or call 327-9364 to RSVP. When e-mailing, put “Homecoming Dinner” in the subject line, and be sure to include your RSVP count. Money will be collected at the dinner. 

Following dinner, all alumni athletes, cheerleaders, team managers, team trainers and former coaches will form the “Tunnel of Tradition” on the football field for the current West football team to run through prior to the game. 

Alumni Association

The Alumni Association will hold a meet-and-greet at 4:30 p.m., a buffet dinner in the high school library at 5 p.m. and its Hall of Fame induction Ceremony at 6 p.m.  

The four honorees this year are:

•Russell Luther Carter, class of 1936, civil rights lawyer and judge.

•Edward J. Gleibs Jr., class of June 1952, expert in the measurement of electricity.

•Joe Johns, class of 1975, CNN news correspondent.

•Susan Johnson, class of June 1945, film and Broadway performer.  

Registration deadline for the Hall of Fame dinner, $20 a person, is Oct. 5. Make checks payable to West High Alumni Association, Hall of Fame Dinner, and mail to: Robert Wesley, Treasurer, P.O. Box 28056, Columbus, OH 43228.  

For details about the Hall of Fame ceremonies, contact Felix Hoover at 276-4862.  

Homecoming Parade

The Homecoming Parade will step off at 5 p.m. at the alley on the southwest corner of the school grounds. The parade route runs through Westgate and back to the school.  

Alumni Band

The West High Alumni Band also has a long tradition of Homecoming performances. This year, the focus will be on former members of the marching band who played in the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1969.  

Any who participated in this historic event are invited to return to West to march once again. The band will hold a practice at West on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. Meet in the cafeteria. (A rain date is Oct. 8 at 6 p.m.) Bring your instrument.  

For details about the Alumni Band, contact Brian Finley at 272-2604. 

Weskets

And don’t forget the Weskets. All former members of the team are invited back, with a special invitation extended to those who marched when Jimmie Lee Hill was band director. The Weskets also will have a reunion at 4 p.m. Oct. 10, at the Buckeye Ranch in Grove City. Their activities will memorialize Hill, who died in April.  

For details about the Weskets reunion, contact Sally Egelhoff Harris at slh4420@ohiohills.com or 740-756-4123, or Sarah Bryan Johnson at sarahj@wideopenwest.com or 614-204-2558.