NEWELL—The homecoming parade was a festive event that the community embraced, with around 20 parade entries taking part in the celebration. The Newell School District invited local businesses to join in on the fun on October 2, adding even more color and community spirit to the annual tradition.
The Newell VFW Post 5807 Color Guard kicked off the homecoming parade, with Lance Putnam and Nila Charles leading the floats along the route.
Irrigator supporters lined both sides of Girard Avenue in downtown Newell and cheered on the class floats as they went by. All of the grades in the Newell School District were represented, beginning with the younger elementary students.
Class by class, floats decorated in nostalgic movie themes passed by. There were so many fun, creative entries, from the sixth grade with their Paw Patrol theme, Howling for a Victory, to the sophomore class with their Minions-themed float, One in a Minion, and plenty of variety in between. There were balloons, streamers, fringe and artistically decorated signs embellishing the floats. The unique displays were met with enthusiastic approval from the local crowd.
Younger kids stood eagerly by waiting for a chance to gather up any candy being thrown out along the route. From suckers and bags of popcorn to candy bars and salt water taffy, all made their way from floats to kids’ hands.
The parade brought an exciting week of homecoming happenings to an end for the school. A full slate of activities was held during the week. 2026 homecoming week started with a coronation ceremony Monday, September 28. The event began at 7 p.m. in Austin Auditorium with Kendra Johnson and Orrin Youngberg crowned Homecoming Queen and King.
Each day of the week had an accompanying dress-up theme beginning with BBQ dad or soccer mom, followed by iconic duos or twins day and then class color day where each class in the school was assigned a color to wear for the day. The next day was assigned to construction or neon day with the last day of the week being all about school pride with the entire school wearing school colors maroon and white.
A variety of school activities were held throughout the week. Activities included a dodgeball tournament and the tradition of street painting where the high school students gathered to leave their mark on the streets of Newell. A pep rally was held before the volleyball game with the traditional burning of the N following the game.
For the homecoming game, the Newell Irrigators took on the Wall Eagles in a girls volleyball game on Thursday, October 1. Newell lost in three sets 25-17, 25-19 and 25-16.
The Neon Disco dance was held on Saturday, October 3 in the middle school gym and finished the weeklong celebration. The dance brought the 2026 homecoming to an end until next year.
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