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The University of Maine will kick off the 130th anniversary of its annual homecoming weekend on Friday. Alumni, students, family and friends are all encouraged to participate in the many events that are set to take place.
From 1 – 6 p.m. Friday, there will be a “Team up to clean up” hurricane relief effort, which will take place around various parts of campus. Resident Life, who sponsors the cleanup, is hoping that “Team up to clean up” will turn into another annual tradition. Volunteer groups will work for no more than an hour. Each student who volunteers will receive a free UMaine Cares bracelet, and $2.48 will be donated to the hurricane relief efforts by the UMaine Alumni Association.
UMaine Cares bracelets have been on sale for nearly a week and will continue to be sold through Thanksgiving break for a minimum $3 donation.
Anyone who donates $5 or more will be considered a sponsor for a “Team up to clean up” group. Bracelets will be on sale in the Memorial Union and at the craft fair on Saturday. The Black Bears Volunteer office, the alumni tent and the UMaine Bookstore are also selling the bracelets.
Both Friday and Saturday night, the UMaine men’s ice hockey team will host Alabama-Huntsville at Alfond Arena, as part of homecoming weekend. The football team will host the University of Massachusetts at 2 p.m. at Alfond Stadium.
The “Go Blue” tailgating tent will be open to everyone, including students, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday and ending during half time of the football game. Refreshments will be on sale. There will also be face painting and live music by the Black Bear marching band. The tent will be located between Dunn Hall and Corbett Hall, and there is no admission charge.
The Alumni Association Craft Fair will take place 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday. Students can get into the fair for free with a MaineCard. The fair is Northern New England’s largest craft fair with more than 220 sellers, all with Maine-made items. Admission for the fair is $1 for adults, and free for children 12 and under. It will take place in the Memorial Gym.
“Many of the items on sale are very affordable,” said Bob Potts, marketing and creative manager for the Alumni Association, “giving students the chance to do some inexpensive holiday shopping or, if nothing else, at least be able to enjoy browsing around the more than 200 crafters.”
Potts said there are plenty of reasons why students should attend homecoming this year.
“When else do you have 10,000 people on campus singing the Stein Song, cheering on our sports teams, coming back to visit their fraternity or sorority, or visiting the craft fair?” asked Potts. “Students should take advantage of the thousands of alumni on campus. You never know who you might bump into.”
Potts, who is in charge of homecoming this year, said preparations have gone well compared to past year.
“I think people would be amazed at the amount of coordination that has to happen to make homecoming a success, from parking services to facilities to athletics to catering services,” Potts said. “We really appreciate all the different departments doing their part to make the weekend successful.”
Potts also said that efforts have been made to make this year’s homecoming more student-oriented.
“For the past couple of years, the alumni office has taken many steps to make homecoming more of a campuswide celebration for students as well as alumni,” he said. “We partnered with the Deans of Students office to bring back the homecoming royalty tradition to honor outstanding undergraduate students. They will be crowned during the pregame show of the homecoming football game. In addition, for the first time ever, UMaine students may enter the craft fair free using their MaineCard.”
