Fire up, Dragons: It’s Homecoming time!

I have a very serious confession to make: I love puns. Really, I love everything about them. They are just so “punny,” I don’t know how you couldn’t love them!

I think this obsession of mine must have developed at a young age. And one event that really sticks out in my mind is Homecoming.

Despite my vertically-challenged height and lack of any sort of athleticism, I was on the Lady Dragon volleyball team in high school. And that meant I got to experience the Homecoming festivities in all their glory.

Our moms decorated our lockers, the town held a parade in our honor, we decorated the school and every little girl either wore a cheerleading skirt or green and gold glittery hair spray to root on the Dragons. (I’m still not sure why fall sports get to have all the fun!)

Besides the themed costume days, Homecoming Olympics and dressing up for the dance, one of my favorite parts of Homecoming week was having “Secret Sisters” on the volleyball team. Each team member drew the name of another girl, and then for every day of the week, we gave them little gifts of encouragement.

It was fun thinking of sneaky ways to hide it in their lockers or have it magically show up in the locker room before the game.

Of course, everything included Dragon green and gold, and what better way to show you care than with a clever Homecoming pun?!

A package of Milky Ways might say, “Reach for the stars because you are out of this world!” And a can of root beer says, “We’re rooting for you to have a great Homecoming.”

The good news is this isn’t just for secret sisters. If you are looking for something clever for your favorite Dragon this year, take a look at the candy bar sayings below. Change them to fit your own situation, or put on your thinking cap and come up with some of your own!

If you want a real challenge, try taping several candy bars to a giant card for one huge clever candy pun. Or make a candy bouquet with lots of sayings written on cute scrapbook paper.

And just because puns are so great, we can use them all year long!! (I’m so excited!) They are great for teacher/volunteer appreciation, sporting events, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and birthdays. Woohoo!

Homecoming Candy Bar Sayings

Whopper: Hope you have a whopper of a Homecoming!
Crunch: It’s crunch time! Let’s win the game tonight!
Junior Mints: Thanks for all your encourage-mint this year!
Butterfingers: Get out those game-day jitters now so you aren’t all butterfingers tonight.
Reese’s Pieces: We just love you to pieces! You are an important piece to our team!
Peanut M&Ms: We’re kind of nuts about you because you’re anything but plain!
Candy Hearts: Thanks for really putting your heart in this team!
100 Grand: We wouldn’t trade you for a 100 grand!
Cupcakes: You really take the cake. Happy Homecoming!
Root Beer: We’re rooting for you to have a great Homecoming!
Red Hots: Your performance was red hot!
Swedish Fish: You are o-fish-ally the best!
Big Hunk: You have a big hunk of talent!
Milky Way: Reach for the stars because you are out of this world!
Rock Pops: You totally rock!
Skor: Skor big tonight at the Homecoming game!
Mounds: We’ll have mounds of fun this Homecoming!
Extra Gum: Thanks for all your extra hard work this season!
Pay Day: Today’s the day all our hard work really pays off!
Soda: We are soda-lighted to wish you a Happy Homecoming!
Starburst: You’re the star of the team! Good luck tonight!

Holyoke Enterprise September 27, 2012