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REXBURG, Idaho–The third annual homecoming torch
lighting and torch parade, a re-creation of a tradition held at Ricks
Academy in 1915, will be held Thursday, Sept. 19, at 9:30 p.m. in the
Viking Stadium.
After
the homecoming queen is announced, she will offer an official welcome and
outline the homecoming festivities. She will then present a family member
of Brady Howell, who died Sept. 11, 2001, in the attack on the Pentagon,
with a ceremonial torch to carry across the field and light the cauldron-style
Legacy Torch.
An
80-piece BYU-Idaho concert band will perform “Red, White and Brass,” while
the Howells ignite the torch.
At
that point, 120 other torches, built over the last two years by students in
welding technology, will be lit and carried by New Student Orientation
Y-Team leaders. After the students circle the track, they will move onto
the field where they will form the letters “RA” for Ricks Academy, “RC” for
Ricks College and finally, “BYU-I.” During the procession, the Ricks College
school song “Happy Ties” will be sung and the band will perform “America
the Beautiful.”
The
180-voice University Choir will join the band for a final number, “Let
Freedom Ring,” a medley of “This Land Is Your Land,” “God Bless the USA”
and “America the Beautiful.” The grand finale will be lancework, similar to
fireworks, on the BYU-I free-standing letters on the field.
“The
term ‘Spirit of Ricks’ has come to symbolize the spirit of love, the spirit
of caring and the spirit of sacrifice,” says Russell Bice, producer of the
torch lighting and torch parade. “It’s an integral part of a student
experience on this campus. These traditions serve to celebrate the legacy
of Ricks College and the legacy of those who gave so much to build the
Spirit of Ricks.”
The
event is expected to last 30 to 40 minutes. # # #
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