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Canutillo Eagles Marching Band and Rife Corps get the parade moving.
Photo: Brax - VPC
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Fall Homecoming Spectacular in Upper Valley.
Page 1 of 3.
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Gigantic bonfire stirs the team, cheerleaders and town to frenzy.
Photo: Brax/VPC |
O
ne of the greatest community events in the whole region has to be the Canutillo High School Homecoming Festivities in Canutillo, Texas. This should not come as any surprise since Canutillo has a history of being very active in their children, having initiated the efforts to create their own Canutillo Independent School District even while their children were being bused into El Paso for high school.
This little rural community in the farthest west corner of Texas is technically part of not only the Upper Valley but also the Mesilla Valley as well. And while this week of community and school spirit is exciting and uplifting for the whole town; many in the Upper Valley beyond the town's limits and those on El Paso's Westside don't even know that the Eagle's put out the good china for Homecoming Week... and it is definitely very, very orange.
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CHS students in pirate gear ready to take another victory.
Photo: Brax/VPC |
To get things rolling, the school puts on a Homecoming Parade that would be a high point if it weren't for all of the other great events. But, while it is already football weather in much of the country; here, in the southwest tempertures can still be in hit nealy ninety degrees in early October. The parade has residents lined all along the parade route in town as it stretches from the south part of town on Doniphan all the way across the river and past the old high school on Bosque Road.
After the ROTC and Color Guard proceed they are followed by wave upon wave of marching students all haveing a great time and whooping it up. During one parade, Elizabeth Galan, Sonya Cano and Carmen Romero, who live in Canutillo, found a spot on the shady side of the street and were cheering on their school as their children and grandchildren scurried along the edge of the street to pick up the candy that was through to the crowd from numerous cars and floats. “We never miss the parade... we are here every year.” said Galan. CHS grads like
Lupe Deanda and Juana Gutierrez say that they are "here every year”.
Many of the younger school children participate as well as the high schoolers as they march or ride in cars, trucks, ATV's and floats. The Homecoming Court also gets the VIP ride though town as do the football team and the cheerleaders. The CHS Marching Band keeps up the tempo and the show is well received by the residents and visitors... when they are not scrambling for candy thrown from the floats. The route takes the marches and the floats nearly an hour and covers a distance of more than a mile.
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Canutillo Seniors frolic and play after the parade.
Photo: Brax/VPC |
The parade not only goes down the main thouroughfare in Canutillo but also goes west over the Rio Grande and through the more rural and farming area of the Upper Valley. At the end of the parade the show takes another twist as everyone gets to play at the Gallegos Memorial Park. The seniors get to show that they are top dogs and games such as tug-o-war keep the school spirit at a peak.
This certainly gets the town and school ready for the Homecoming football game but, there is still much more to see and experience before the big game.
To continue to next page - Click for Page 2 .
Prepared by UVL staff.
Photos: Brax - Valley Publishing Company
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Letter to the Editor, Upper Vallely Living Magazine
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