Two of Ukiah’s unique and wonderful events are coming up and they remind me how lucky we all are to live in Ukiah.
Ukiah High School Homecoming and Ukiah’s Country Pumpkinfest are right around the corner. Without the hard work of dedicated volunteers who love their school and their community, neither of these events would occur.
Our high school homecoming is truly special. I honestly think Ukiah High does more to get everyone involved and demonstrating true school spirit than any other high school I have ever seen.
Monday through Friday, the high school conducts rallies, assemblies, skits, contests, a parade, and a football game.
During homecoming week, students dress in unbelievably creative ways. During the week, each class is represented by its own color and theme, and then everyone comes together on Friday at the football game in a sea of Ukiahi purple and gold. I love the way each class competes through their citizenship, sportsmanship, and support for their classmates to vie for the school’s most prestigious award: the school spirit bell.
High school administrators, teachers, staff members and student body representatives deserve a big thank you for all their efforts—their hard work allows the whole student body to enjoy an incredibly positive, community-building activity. Go, Wildcats!
Homecoming Route
This year’s parade will start at Ukiah High School at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, October 10, and travel east on Low Gap Road to N. Bush Street, then south on N. Bush Street to Grove Avenue. From Grove the parade will turn on to Scott, and then head south on State Street. The parade will stay on State Street past the Mendocino County Courthouse to Clay Street, then turn west on Clay, north on Dora and back to the high school.
During the parade, our school resource officer and school administrators will help control traffic near the parade route. If you’re driving near the parade, please pay attention! It’s easy to become distracted, but so important not to. The parade includes horses, semi-trucks, and vintage cars carrying many potential homecoming kings and queens. If you want to take pictures, cheer on a particular class, or just wave, please don’t try to drive at the same time.
If you have a teenager participating in the parade, encourage them to yell their hearts out with school pride, but please, be careful on the floats. We don’t want to see anyone fall off and get hurt.
Pumpkinfest
Ukiah’s Country Pumpkinfest will be on Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19, with a hometown parade Saturday morning. On both days, the event will include fun, family-related activities like live music, a downtown carnival, and many unique vendors.
Again, it is because of the hard work of countless volunteers, non-profits, service clubs, and others that Ukiah can enjoy such a fantastic downtown event.
The parade starts at the intersection of Low Gap Road and State Street and travels south on State Street through the downtown to Seminary Avenue. From 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning until about noon, State Street will be completely closed to vehicle traffic from Low Gap Road to the movie theater at Mill Street.
To avoid frustration as you try to get across town, it’s best to use the freeway or Dora Street to travel north and south. And it’s probably a good idea to plan some extra time for travel, either way.
If you’re watching the Pumpkinfest parade, please don’t let your kids run into the street to get candy—or get too close to the vehicles for any reason. Driving in a parade and dealing with distractions is challenging; a driver may not see a small child in the street. Let’s keep kids safe and have fun!
As always, our mission at UPD is simple: to make Ukiah as safe as possible. If you have suggestions on how we can improve please feel free to call me. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website: www.ukiahpolice.com.
