Cheers to homecoming

Few, if any, high school activities involve the community more than homecoming.

Even if you're not an alum or you don't have a child in the school, you can get some of the homecoming buzz from watching a parade or seeing a football game.

Some Fox Valley homecomings are taking place this week; others are next month. All of the schools have a week's worth of events.

Here is a look at some of the highlights:

Burlington Central

The annual parade, which involves middle school and high school students, will be at 1:30 p.m. today around the high school's campus in Burlington. New this year is the Fun Run that'll be held on the high school's track after the parade. The homecoming football games against Marengo follow the Fun Run. Sophomores play at 5:30 p.m., followed by the varsity. Before the varsity game, the homecoming court will be introduced and will walk on the track in front of the crowd.

Cary-Grove

The Cary school's first homecoming sporting events are on Sept. 28, with junior varsity soccer at 5 p.m. and varsity soccer at 7 p.m..

Most of the homecoming events take place Sept. 29, kicking off that day with a 9 a.m. parade in Fox River Grove. The parade assembles at Algonquin Road and Old Hunt Road and ends at Beach Park. A separate parade in Cary begins at 10 a.m. at Pearl and First streets, comes up First and then ends at the high school.

The homecoming games are against Dundee-Crown: sophomore at 10:45 a.m. and varsity at 1 p.m.

Dundee-Crown

The homecoming parade for the Carpentersville school steps off at 2 p.m. Oct. 7. It marches from Second Street to River Street through downtown West Dundee, and continues north on River Street, ending at Carpentersville Middle School. The powder puff football game, featuring junior and senior girls and female faculty, will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10. The sophomore homecoming game starts at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, and the varsity game against Woodstock kicks off at 7:30 p.m. The dance will be held Oct. 13.

Elgin Academy

The homecoming celebration starts off at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28. The 6 p.m. parade that follows winds its way around campus before the Elgin school's homecoming picnic. The homecoming game is Sept. 29.

Hampshire

The powder puff games will take place Oct. 3, followed by a bonfire and the announcement of the homecoming court.

The homecoming soccer game begins at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 1. The homecoming volleyball game will be at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 2.

Homecoming football games will take place Oct. 5 against Richmond-Burton, starting with the sophomore contest at 5:30 p.m.

Huntley

The powder puff football game, pitting junior girls against senior girls, will be held the evening of Oct. 8. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at Huntley village hall, continuing down Main Street and ending at Woodstock Street. The school is still seeking participation from community groups. Call Tom George, athletic director, at (847) 659-6506.

The homecoming pep rally will be held from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in the east gym. The sophomore homecoming game starts at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 12, and the varsity game against Crystal Lake Central -- the last home game of the season -- starts at 7:45 p.m. The homecoming dance will be from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Oct. 13.

Jacobs

The homecoming pep rally will be at 1:30 p.m. today on the football field. When the pep rally is over, the Algonquin school's homecoming parade will start at 3:30 p.m. at Neubert Elementary School and end at the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District station. The sophomore game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. today, followed by the varsity game against Cary-Grove High School at 7:45 p.m. The homecoming dance will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Jacobs field house.

Marian Catholic

The Woodstock school's homecoming parade is at 3:30 p.m. today on the Square in Woodstock. The sophomores play at 5:30 p.m. at the varsity at 7:30 p.m. -- both against St. Edward -- in today's homecoming football games.

Prairie Ridge

The homecoming parade will begin at about 4 p.m. Sept. 28 in back of the Crystal Lake school, and travel around a nearby neighborhood. The parade will be followed by a block party from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. that includes musical entertainment, a dunk tank and children's activities. The sophomore and varsity football teams play Grayslake North Sept. 28, with the homecoming court coronation at 7:30 p.m. just before the varsity game.

St. Edward Catholic

There's a homecoming pep rally Oct. 5 at the Elgin school, followed by the homecoming football game at 7:30 p.m. in which the school will take on St. Francis. The homecoming dance runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 6.