Umatilla Homecoming Has Arrived! Your Schedule Here

    It’s Homecoming week at Umatilla High School, with students and faculty enjoying a week of activities leading up to special events later this week. It’s Tame The Toros this week, with Tocoi Creek High School of St. Augustine coming to town for a Friday night game that will feature the crowning of the Homecoming Queen and King, as well as see the initiation of the first three people in Umatilla High’s Legacy Hall hall of fame.
    School-based activities give way to public events beginning on Thursday, October 21, when the annual Homecoming Parade will be held on SR 19 through downtown Umatilla. The parade begins at 5:30 p.m. and will run from the Southside ballpark area to Bulldog Lane. The parade will feature class and club floats, Homecoming representatives, and more.
    On Friday night, the fun begins at 6 p.m. with the introductions of class representatives and the initiation of the late Robert McTureous, Jr., the late John Westervelt, and Howard ‘Skip’ Babb to the school’s new Legacy Hall. The Legacy Hall program is designed to honor UHS alumni who have gone on to great things.
    At halftime of the football game, which begins at 7:30 p.m., the Homecoming Queen and King will be selected.
    Finally, the school’s students will gather again on Saturday night, for an outdoor dance in the school’s courtyard.
    This year’s Homecoming has an additional flourish, as Tocoi Creek will come to town with a Umatilla High School alumnus in tow. Jay Willets, son of former Umatilla educator Bob Willets, is principal at Tocoi Creek. Willets will be back in town Friday night with his school’s team.
    “The last time I touched that field was when I graduated in 1989,” Willets said this week. The principal left Umatilla after graduation to attend Flagler College in St. Augustine, and has remained in that community ever since.
    “The fishing was too good to leave,” he said, while voicing pleasure about the prospects of returning to Umatilla for the game and some Homecoming action.
    “I understand the classes of 1986-89 are gathering up at the game and doing something after. I’m super excited about being there for all that.”