The floats will still be gliding, the music will still be playing, and community members will still be waving.
Montezuma-Cortez High School’s homecoming parade is back on, and Cortez residents will be able to catch a glimpse of the action Saturday at 10 a.m.
The annual parade was canceled based on police guidance Tuesday afternoon when a shooting at 546 E. Montezuma Ave., a house adjacent to Kemper Elementary School, forced students to evacuate. An hourslong standoff ensued as police tried to convince a potential suspect to leave the house.
The incident had East Montezuma Avenue from Park Street to Harrison Street blocked off until 5:25 p.m. — about an hour after the parade was slated to begin its initial lineup.
It was scheduled to officially commence at 5 p.m.
The parade lineup will now make its way down Montezuma Avenue Saturday, rather than Main Street, where the event is usually held. It will start at Park Street and Montezuma Avenue, going west to the intersection of North Chestnut Street and Montezuma Avenue.
Parade organizer Sara Broersma, Acellus Online Education administrator at Montezuma-Cortez High School, received the call that the parade was canceled about 2 p.m Wednesday. At that point, students at the high school were running into her classroom, asking “What do you mean it was canceled?” she said.
She contacted the Colorado Department of Transportation for permission to reschedule the event on Main Street, but didn’t hear back. She then set her sights on hosting the parade on Montezuma Avenue, which wouldn’t require CDOT approval, she said.
With backing from the Cortez Police Department, the event was made possible again.
Ahead of Saturday’s event, she’ll be busy planning the new route and lineup.
“We were all ready for the big grand exposition yesterday,” she said Thursday morning, before the news of the reschedule. “A lot of people went home sad last night.”
It would’ve been the second year the parade was canceled — because of a pandemic cancellation last year, she said.
“I had to drive home with a tear in my eye,” she said.
To her — and for many — the parade is a celebration of life and education that unites the school community with the rest of Cortez.
Broersma has been organizing the event for about 12 years, she said.
“It’s kind of like my crowning moment of the school year,” she said.
On Friday, there will be a pregame pep rally at the practice football field at 5:30 p.m., followed by the homecoming football game against Delta High School at 7 p.m., where homecoming royalty will be announced at halftime.
An M-CHS boys soccer game opposing Alamosa High School will take place at 5:15 p.m. Friday, and the homecoming dance will take place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday.
