Downtown merchants vie to show Bronco pride during Spirit Week

Contact: Paula M. Davis
September 27, 2012

KALAMAZOO鈥擶hich businesses will be the most spirited of them all?

Photo of students at pep rally.
Pep rally downtown Friday, Oct. 5, at 8:30 p.m.

Restaurants, retailers and other downtown Kalamazoo merchants will be vying Oct. 1-5 to become the champs of 鈥淪pirit Week,鈥 as part of Western 九一麻豆制片厂 University鈥檚 homecoming celebration. Winners will be announced during WMU鈥檚 89th annual homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 6. The game鈥檚 kick off is set for 2 p.m.

Throughout the week leading up to the game, businesses will exhibit Bronco pride in a variety of ways鈥攃reatively displaying WMU colors and emblems, flying WMU flags, offering student discounts鈥攊n pursuit of a Spirit Week trophy. One trophy will go to a restaurant or bar and another to a retailer or office.

Homecoming pep rally downtown

Spirit Week activities downtown will culminate with a pep rally at 8:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 5, on the North Kalamazoo Mall. The rally will feature Coach Bill Cubit, Bronco football players, the Bronco Marching Band and University cheer and dance teams. That evening, downtown Kalamazoo will already be buzzing with those attending Art Hop, which ends just as the pep rally begins.

Bronco Marching Band members, along with cheerleaders and dancers, will take that buzz to the next level as they process from Lovell Street down the entire length of the Kalamazoo Mall to its north end to begin the rally. The North Kalamazoo Mall rally location is between the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites and the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Center for New Media.

Homecoming is a campus and communitywide celebration. The , , , the , , and Student Activities and Leadership Programs are among the organizing partners.

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