The month of October brings excitement to West, as the cold weather sweeps in, and the most talked-about event of the fall semester, Homecoming, begins to be discussed. In a typical normal school year, the annual homecoming dance would be taking place, but because of COVID-19 concerns, the dance has been canceled. 

“It was an overall decision with our school-improvement team. First and foremost-COVID. You know, getting a lot of students together on the dance floor is probably not what we need to happen right now.” sponsor April Bryson said. 

Thanks to English teacher Jason Livingston, Student Government Association (SGA) members found a solution: a bonfire. 

“He (Livingston) had mentioned it a couple years back, and the pandemic hit, and there wasn’t anything we could do. And then when we talked about replacing the homecoming dance with something, that idea came back up.” Bryson said. “We’ve been wanting to try a bonfire for a while, and it makes a great replacement. It’s outside, students can take their mask off, sit around and enjoy the fire right after the football game. It’s just such a good fix.” 

“I think the bonfire is really creative. I never would’ve come up with that for a substitute. But I think it’s probably going to be better since it’s outside.” junior Annalise Eidt said. “I know that it’s hard to get kids to follow the rules anyways, so expecting them to wear a mask while at this huge party is probably not the smartest thing to do. I definitely understand where the decision came from.”

The first bonfire event will take place Oct. 15 right after the Falcons take on the Owen Warhorses, and will be located on the practice soccer field. Tickets will be sold for $5 at school next week. Concessions will be available for sale.

By: Sara McCrimmon, Feature Writer