Peter DeLong also will be one of the committee members overseeing the float construction in Spartan Stadium this week. He said the groups that come prepared are more likely to have the best final presentation.

“From what I’ve seen in the past, the (groups) who put the most work into the planning prior to the building stages are the floats which end up being the best,” Peter DeLong said.

Theatre senior Krista DeLong has participated in the Homecoming activities, including the building of the Department of Theatre’s float, for the past two years. Before members of the department can get their hands dirty with the project, she said the design and layout of the float needs to be determined.

Going hand-in-hand with this year’s Homecoming theme of “Glow Green, Go White” Krista DeLong said the Department of Theatre will be using the float as an opportunity to advertise their event “The Haunted Aud.”

“We’re still working out how to get power to the lights, and we’re still getting all of the materials to make it,” Krista DeLong said. “It takes a lot of work from a small group of us to get everything going, but we’ll get more people involved for the building process, which is a lot of fun.”

All the materials being used are funded by the MSU Society for Performers and Arts Managers, which is a student organization that fundraises for various departments within the arts.

Krista DeLong said winning this year would be great for the theatre program, but it’s not the most important thing on her mind.

“I don’t think winning is the real goal for me,” she said. “It’s about getting the Theatre Department into other activities on campus. We’re separate from a lot of events on campus, so we’re trying to integrate with the school more.”

Rose Halle, hospitality business senior and chief operating officer for the MSU Hospitality Association, has been a part of the School of Hospitality Business’s float building for three years. The school was awarded best float last year.

Even after winning last year’s competition, Halle believes the Homecoming parade is more of an opportunity to showcase the strength of her program to students and alumni.

“We love showing our pride of being part of the hospitality business program, and it’s a ton of fun bonding with the other students during the building process,” Halle said. “Winning for us would just be one more thing to show the community how passionate we are, but also it’s great to be able to tell prospective students that we’re connected so much with our alumni.”

This year, she said those in her group will be incorporating the green glow theme by depicting a restaurant setting titled Bistro 85, in honor of the School of Hospitality Business’s 85th year of existence.

Peter DeLong said the Homecoming parade has continued to grow in popularity with more than 120 entries in the parade this year and last year’s event drew in a crowd of more than 15,000 people.

“It’s a really fun atmosphere, and I think the families in East Lansing really look forward to it,” he said. “It’s important for people to take an active role in the activities going around on campus, and Homecoming is a great way to bring together the old and the new, blending the alumni with the current students.”