Sean Stoker, Reporter sean.stoker7@gmail.com
Photos by Laura Fox
Students took part in UVU’s annual Homecoming week tradition, the Club Shopping Cart Parade on November 13. Members from many of UVU’s student clubs promenaded through the halls of the school, pushing specially decorated shopping carts representing the essence of their club, ending in the Grande Ballroom. There, students were treated to some delicious J-Dawgs as awards were presented to the judges’ favorite floats in a few categories.
The award for “Creativity” went to the PRSSA who, living up to their stated goal of public relations, wowed the judges with their pirate ship. Though made of paper, their float would give any similarly sized pirate ship it encountered on the high seas an inferiority complex. Perhaps it could do battle with Johnny Depp’s tiny ship at the beginning of Pirates of the Caribbean. I’d pay to see that.
For “Best UVU Spirit,” the MAWL Club took home the prize for their cart that was decked out in MAWL t-shirts, filled to the brim with soccer balls, dodge balls, and UVU team swag. One would be remised to not mention the life-size cutout of Rupert Grint (Harry Potter’s Ron Weasley) in the basket, looking reluctant to be sporting a MAWL t-shirt himself.
Students for Choice, whose float certainly got their mission statement across, if in a very perplexing way, took the award for “Best Representation of Group” home. Their float featured a large umbrella, dripping with paper raindrops that were covered in none other than condoms. Wait, you didn’t guess condoms? The sides were covered with condom raindrops as well as the statement, “Don’t Get Caught Unprepared”. To be fair, I’m not sure anyone would be adequately prepared for a meteorological event as unprecedented as condoms raining from the sky. Needless to say, I would want an umbrella should such a thing come to pass, so they got that right.
The “Best Overall Float” went to the Multicultural Student Council, whose float sported a large tree, which seemed to be growing flowers from all over the world. The bottom of the cart had the appearance of a forest floor, strewn with bark, and littered with artifacts from various cultures, achieving a truly artistic presence that certainly stood out.
The event culminated in presentation of club awards, constituting a cash prize given to each winning club.
“Most Creative Club” went to the French Club for their depiction of a mannequin, which one might presume represented Marie Antoinette, being brutally, bloodily decapitated by paper guillotine. The French Club took home $100 towards their club.
“Most Club Spirit” was awarded to the American Marketing Association, whose white cart was covered in pie charts and an info graphic explaining how to join the AMA, which effectively reproduced the feeling of a business PowerPoint presentation in shopping cart form. Such a sentence I never thought I’d have to type. The AMA were awarded $150, a prize that will look great alongside the $1000 they took home for their win in the Northwestern Mutual Sales Competition.
And last, the Science Association of Women won the “Best Overall Club” prize of $200. Their float was covered in scientific items and discoveries, including a labeled human skull, a cross-sectional model of a fish, a giant curling DNA double helix, eye-droppers, and much more. Essentially the float resembled the opening sequence of Bill Nye the Science Guy projected onto the frame of a shopping cart.
Anyone who missed the event could certainly console themselves later this month by watching the next best thing, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
