8-28-2024 7:49am

Hononegah's Purple and Gold Festival kicks off fall sports

Photo: Amanda Fry

Marianne Mueller's story reports on what the administrators said at the Purple & Gold Festival.

Hononegah Community High School kicked off all of their fall sports seasons with the 30th annual Purple and Gold Festival on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. The event featured Dairyhaus’s brand-new Purple & Gold ice cream, MadDog gourmet cookies, Purple & Gold slushees, and a prime concessions selection from Main Street Meat Co. - all compliments of the Booster Club. Everyone’s favorite Spirit Shack also made its return for the 2024-25 season. Additional contributions were made by the HFB Gridiron and Glitz & Go LLC.

Festivities began at 5:30 with the soccer and volleyball exhibitions. The boys soccer program made quite the show for their spectators with fierce competitive spirit - living up to the “practice how you play” mentality. Judging upon their scrimmages alone, it is safe to say that all three teams are going to have a very successful run this year. Hononegah’s girls volleyball teams also demonstrated the progress they’ve made and left everyone expectant for the season. It is clear that Coach Libby and the varsity team have no intention of losing the title of regional champions.

The next event on the line-up was Hononegah’s newest sport, the girls flag-football team. This fall marks the inaugural season of flag football as an IHSA sanctioned sport, which makes it all the more exciting. Although the team might be small, the program is sure to grow as more people see these girls in action.

Following flag football was one of the most anticipated events of the night, the Purple and Gold Parade. Before starting the procession, Superintendent Dugan, School Board President Kurlinkus, and Principal Dougherty all gave their customary speeches to the audience. Abbey Sommer made her debut as Princess Hononegah by completing the traditional dance to honor the original Princess Hononegah for her role in founding our town and school.

Senior Gale (Jenna) Harms was tasked with singing the National Anthem. Harms told an interviewer, “I don’t know why I was so special, but I think it was kind of an honor to do that.” Some might recall this Hononegah student from her humorous performance as Grandma Addams in the 2024 spring musical. She expressed great gratitude for being given the opportunity to continue pursuing her interest in the arts, since she plans on staying involved with acting and singing after graduation.

Finally, football scrimmages took place as the cherry-on-top at the end of Purple and Gold Fest. This year, the freshman and sophomore teams both played on Kelsey Field at the same time. That meant the two teams had their scrimmages on only 50 yards of space each, likely in an effort to reduce the time spent just on football. The varsity team put on a spectacular show for the audience featuring Cole Schmall and new QB1 Dominic Kelly. Cole Schmall has already received much media coverage and gotten a scholarship offer from St. Francis College. From the looks of it, this season is going to be an interesting one. Roll tribe!