Step 1: The Preparation
Preparation for tee-peeing starts long before spirit night actually begins. In the days leading up to the big night every girl has to do her part to stock up on tee-pee supplies. From hot dogs to tiny plastic babies we really cover every possible prank supply there could be. All together we probably purchased somewhere around twenty-five packages of toilet paper to try and last the entire night. Another crucial step in the tee-pee preparation is determining the route of houses we plan to take and figuring out how many cars we will be taking. This year we ended up taking three cars with six passengers in each, and our first stop of the night was Newton Perkins.
Step 2: Trip to Perkins
Our class has traditionally gone to Perkins all four years of high school, and it has always often been the location of some of our favorite Homecoming memories. I can safely say there’s never been a moment absent of laughter while we’re there. This year we ended up getting there at 10:30, and we probably spent a good hour/ hour and a half there. We spent our time eating, discussing the powder puff game, and watching Faith Defenbaugh throw all her money away at the claw machine (she did eventually win as she does every year). Although I wouldn’t say our service is ever exactly time efficient, It is always a fantastic experience for us girls.
Step 3: The Action Begins
After we left Perkins we headed to Wyatt Schutte’s house for our kickoff of the night. We always spend a good amount of time working on this house because it is always our first of the night. We then headed off to Bondurant and Altoona to do some of the boys’ houses that are outside of the district. This entailed a long and sleepy car ride for most of us. After we hit these houses we had to make a quick pit stop for energy drinks and candy at Kwik Star. We then headed back towards Prairie City where we were welcomed by Mark Bussan’s annual batch of cookies. We finished tee-peeing the rest of the Prairie City houses and then headed back to Monroe to finish off the rest.
Step 4: The Crash
By the time we got back to Monroe I am positive every one of us had crashed in energy at least once, but in response to these crashes we also had surges of energy that make for the most memorable moments. Periods of non stop laughter, silent three minute naps, and SZA jam sessions cycled through the night on repeat. We hit our last house around four o’clock and we were all hitting a major wall, however we did have one last stop to make.
Step 5: The Fountain
It has been a tradition at PCM for many years for the senior glass to tee-pee the town square fountain and put soap in the water. This tradition did not exactly work out for our class the way we had hoped because when we arrived at the square the fountain was off. Although this was a slightly disappointing moment, we did our best to continue the tradition by pouring the soap and praying it would foam in the morning.
This moment officially ended our high school tee-peeing career with a bitter-sweet bang. We may have all been exhausted and delirious, but I think it eventually hit us all that this was our last time experiencing this iconic piece of our high school experience. I am so proud to be a member of this amazing class and I know we will continue to cherish these happy memories.
