Hammer and Nails: NHS students piece together floats for homecoming parade

Bill Madoll has been pulling floats in the Newton High School Homecoming Parade for 10 years. Students call him “the go-to guy.” Anything the students need — props, hayracks and supplies — he has it.

The Maytag retiree builds the hayracks at home is his free time. The hayrack parked inside the shop at Newton High School on Tuesday he made from old Montgomery Wards running gears. It’s now the skeleton of the NHS freshman class float.

To save on the student’s $100 budget, Madoll reuses props from year to year, like the replica H.A. Lynn scoreboard on the back of the freshman float. Madoll was the sponsor for last year’s senior class float, a group of kids he followed in float-making all four years of their NHS careers.

“Their freshman year they tied for first place, so they flipped a coin,” Madoll said. “I said, ‘It’s the kids’ float, so you have to call the coin.’ They called the coin wrong and missed first place. The next year, they tied for second and called the coin wrong again. Last year, they tied for first and called the coin wrong again. ... These guys, they’re going to take first place.”

Following tradition, each high school class will have a float in Thursday’s Newton Homecoming Parade, driving and marching from 6 to 7 p.m. through downtown Newton.

The high school students worked on their floats for two hours daily after school Monday through Wednesday, the freshman and sophomores at the high school and the juniors and seniors at the school district maintenance building — all vying for votes and a first-place in Thursday’s parade.

While Madoll and NHS teachers supervised, freshman Ari Hamm and Collin Dykstra strategized about spray painting the cardinal soon-to-be installed on their float.

Hamm said the freshmen concept is “Cage the Trojans.” Fellow freshman Collin Dykstra spent more than eight hours welding rebar to make the jail cage in his home garage, as well as the frame for a Trojan Horse which is now covered with paper mache.

“He did very well. I was very impressed,” Hamm said

In the bay next door, sophomores Emma Simpson, Kaylanna Sue and Sarah Templeman queue up “Rock the Capitals — South America” on an iPhone. As song hits “La Paz, Bolivia,” the girls put the finishing flourishes on a large “2021” sign made from red tissue paper scrunched to look like flowers in the back of their float.

Their theme, Simpson said, is “Tame the Trojans.” The float has a wooden Cardinal mascot dressed in full football uniform, ready to take on a South Tama player made of metal. The grass covering the base of the cart is left over turn from recent H.A. Lynn renovations.

Newton High School teacher Karla Cazett is nearby supervising the build. This is her second year helping this group of students ready the float for Thursday’s parade.

“I’ve been with this class of 2021. I’ll follow them every year,” she said. “I enjoy seeing the students take initiative to have their ideas come through.”

Homecoming week continues Thursday with the parade and pep rally to follow on the Jasper County Courthouse lawn. Newton Cardinal varsity football takes of the South Tama County Trojans at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at 641-792-3121 Ext 6530 mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com