“Just seeing what the impact it has on the community and why it is so special understanding that first hand is something that people need to do.”
Hobo Day is something students at South Dakota State University have enjoyed since its very first year back in 1912.
For Regen Wiederrich it is even more special though as this year. He is the events President overseeing the entire week of activities.
”Just seeing what the impact it has on the community and why it is so special understanding that first hand is something that people need to do,” Wiederrich said.
Wiederrich is a senior at SDSU getting ready for his final Hobo Day as a student.
The event doesn’t end for Jackrabbits at graduation though as every year alumni from around the country return for the annual event.
”When I was a first-year student I didn’t quite believe the number of people that were going to come to town, and then being in the parade route and seeing the streets of Brookings lined with yellow and blue as a student is something that is bar none,” Wiederrich said.
The buzz of Hobo Day is not just something found on campus.
Organizer Hannah Owens says business owners and members of the Brookings community all look forward to the big event just as much as the students.
”It has its own murmur and its own little heartbeat going on in our city and it’s so cool to see because it really does have a huge effect emotionally, but also economically on the Brookings community and the Sdsu community,” Owens said.
MORE: Jaycees Feargrounds continues 48-year-old October tradition
Events leading up to Hobo Day began earlier this week but everything is building towards Saturday, which will wrap up the week with a big parade and homecoming football game against Indiana State University to follow.
”Parade day the population of Brookings doubles which I honestly can’t comprehend fully and it is just one of the biggest things that I have ever been able to be a part of. The magnitude is just incomparable,” Owens said.
Source: Dakota News Now
