 Maria Escobar and Tyler Romero Westside Pioneer photo
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According to Student Body President Maria Escobar, 29 entries in all are slated to roll or walk down Colorado Avenue through Old Colorado City. The starting point will be about 29th Street, with the finish at Old Town's Bancroft Park (off 24th Street), where a pep rally will hopefully fire up the Cougar football team for its Homecoming Game at 1 p.m. against The Classical Academy at Garry Berry Stadium (outside Wasson High). The game will be preceded by a tailgate party in the stadium parking lot at 11 a.m. (cost $6 adults, $5 for students) with proceeds going to the school's ProStart cooking program. A dance will be held at the school gym that evening.
During the parade, hundreds of people typically line the sidewalks to view the cheerfully shouting students - and sometimes to shout back at them - as they march down the street or ride by in decorated floats.
Coronado has held its annual parade through Old Colorado City since the year after the school's 1970 opening. Increased costs and government regulations complicated the planning this year, but Escobar, previous president Tyler Romero and their student councils embarked on fundraising efforts, and school Principal David Engstrom confirmed in September that the parade was on.
An enhancement for the 40th annual parade is making sure there's plenty of music. In the past that responsibility fell on the Coronado High School, Holmes and West bands, but there were still “times of awkward silence” between some entries, Escobar said. As a result, she has recruited two radio stations (99.9 and 96.1) this year, whose tune-blaring floats will be added to the parade lineup.
The parade theme is “In the Jungle,” which Escobar believes will lead to some interesting entries. “It's been really good with the feeder schools,” she said. “They can get into the theme with lots of trees and colors.”
Coronado builds up for its Homecoming Day during the preceding week with special spirit days. At the parade, floats are judged, with the winner getting a gift card.
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