West Virginia University will welcome friends and alumni back to campus with a special parade, tailgate, football game and other activities during its annual Homecoming celebration, Nov. 1-7.

On Friday, parade marshal and Charlestonian Mary Lou Bullard Moore, WVU s very first Homecoming queen in 1939 and the countrys All-American College Queen in 1940, will lead the parade down High Street beginning at 6:30 p.m..

Participants and Morgantown residents are encouraged to arrive early to avoid car and pedestrian traffic.

Entries traditionally include area high school bands and color guards, colorful floats representing various student groups and plenty of flashy cars. The WVU Alumni Bandwith its roster of enthusiastic membersis sure to pump up the crowd and get everyone clapping, while the 340-member, award-winningPride of West VirginiaMountaineer marching band will cap off the parade.

Moore and Charleston attorney David K. Hendrickson, WVU s 2004 Outstanding Alumnus, will be showcased at the parade and also during Saturdays WVU -Temple game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Hendrickson, a former student body president, served as president of the Alumni Associations Board of Directors in 1999 and currently serves on the Mountaineer Athletic Clubs Development Council and the WVU Athletic Council. He also is a member of the visiting committee for Student Affairs.

A coronation ceremony, a time-honored tradition at WVU , will highlight halftime festivities. This year, five outstanding men and five extraordinary womenall seniorsare campaigning for Homecoming king and queen.

As the candidates make the traditional walk across Mountaineer Field, they will be accompanied by their parents. Adriane Morrow, the 2003 Homecoming queen and a WVU graduate student in public administration from Morgantown, will also participate in the ceremony.

This years queen candidates are: Amanda Corinne Archer, a music education major from New Martinsville; Sara Besche, an interior design major from Georgetown, Del.; Tiffany Monique Johnson, a broadcast news major from Chesapeake, Va.; Rebecca Ann Orr, a chemical engineering major from Martinsburg; and Kristin Shallenberger, a public relations major from Connellsville, Pa.

The finalists for king are: Daniel Farkas, a political science major from Clifton, N.J.; Bobby Hazelwood, a finance major from Lindside; John Racelis, a management information systems major from Richmond, Va.; David E. Sella-Villa, an economics and international studies major from Morgantown; and Christopher Williamson, a political

science and economics major from Dingess.

WVU families may purchase special discounted football tickets (up to four tickets for $25 each) for Saturdays game from the Mountaineer Parents Club. These are available through Friday while supplies last. A downloadable order form is available athttp://www.wvu.edu/~parents/Homecoming_Tickets.pdf.

WVU s Eberly College also has some interesting lectures planned Saturday morning. For a complete schedule of Homecoming activities, click onhttp://www.wvu.edu/homecoming/.

Homecoming Parade Traffic Advisory

The Morgantown Police Department, in cooperation with WVU s Department of Public Safety, has announced road closures for Fridays parade.

The parade will begin forming at 5:15 p.m. along North High Street, proceed south on High Street and wrap up around 7:30 p.m.

Police will assist with routing traffic in the downtown area. Motorists traveling in this vicinity are encouraged to use alternate routes.

Street closures:

• Maiden Lane between College Ave. and North High St. �€3 p.m.

• Willey Street from High St. to University Ave. �€5 p.m.

• High Street �€6:30 p.m. until the end of the parade

Prospect St. from Price St. to University Ave. is scheduled to stay open, but may close depending on traffic.

Signs will be posted two days in advance along Prospect, North High and High, reminding people to move their parked cars by 5 p.m. Friday or risk being towed.

In addition, WVU faculty and staff who park in the Mountainlair Parking Garage are urged to leave by 5 p.m. or they may not be able to move their cars until after the parade.

Spectators are advised to dress warmly and wear light-colored clothing for greater visibility.