One wouldn’t have guessed last Friday night at Ely School Stadium that enrollment in the local school district is shrinking.
There was a nearly packed house in the stadium, and school and community spirit were prevalent during the annual Fall Homecoming Game.
And to top it off, the hometown Timberwolves even picked up their first win of the season knocking off Chisholm 32-20 in an exciting and entertaining game.
Fall Homecoming Week in Ely is special, and that hasn’t changed even though graduating classes have shrunk from the 100s during the Baby Boom era to the 50s and 60s through recent decades to around 40 or so now.
For a week, quizzes and homework and lectures took a backseat to pep rallies, float decorating and athletic events as Ely students donned their red and white last Friday and dressed in themed attire for the rest of the week.
On Friday, the floats took to the streets for an impromptu Homecoming procession, and everything culminated at the stadium last Friday night.
Parents, grandparents and community members joined the students at the stadium on a picture-perfect evening for football.
Although the student body is nowhere near as large as it once was, those in the stands cheered their hearts out for the hometown Wolves, and they had plenty to cheer about early on as Ely jumped to a 24-0 lead - the football program’s largest lead in any game in at least five years.
The high school band was bedecked in uniform and director Karl Kubiak had them out on the field at the half. In a sign of the times, a football player pulled double duty, bypassing a trip to the locker room at the half and getting his instrument to perform instead.
Homecoming royalty was introduced to the crowd and then came the highlight of the evening - the procession of floats around the football field.
The junior class certainly gets kudos for their float - a giant houseboat.
But the houseboat was also cause for some excitement and a bit of a scare when the truck pulling it around hit a sinkhole, and was temporarily stuck.
The houseboat teetered, the kids evacuated, and the truck was able to escape the sinkhole and pull the float off the field.
Some old-fashioned Ely resourcefulness followed, and several high school students not only found a dirt pile, but buckets and shovels, and the sinkhole was filled in no time flat, allowing the game to proceed.
And despite some anxious moments, the Wolves held on for a 32-20 win, setting off a celebration on the field and resulting in smiles all around.
Within a half hour, the Homecoming dance was underway, bringing an end to another Homecoming week in Ely.
The students and community showed that no matter the size of the graduating class, Ely still knows how to celebrate Homecoming.
