Port St. Joe gathers for 2022 homecoming parade
Port St Joe High School’s Homecoming Week wrapped up with a parade and a blowout football game this weekend.
Locals kicked off festivities early on Friday, gathering on Reid Avenue right after school let out to cheer on the team ahead of their game against the Vernon Yellowjackets.
The parade began with a police escort and was led by Port St. Joe High School’s varsity football team, who sat atop a fire truck — as per the town’s tradition. ROTC students and the 2022 Band of Gold followed closely behind. This year’s homecoming court, which featured 11 senior girls, rode through downtown, throwing candy for crowds of eager children.
As Gulf District Schools Superintendent Jim Norton and the Port St. Joe Police Department rode by to tell spectators goodbye, folding chairs were packed up as quickly as they were put out, and the town headed to the football game, where the Sharks won 48-0, and Damari Johnson was crowned the homecoming queen.
Meet the Editor
Wendy Weitzel, The Star’s digital editor, joined the news outlet in August 2021, as a reporter covering primarily Gulf County.
Prior to then, she interned for Oklahoma-based news wire service Gaylord News and for Oklahoma City-based online newspaper NonDoc.com during her four years at the University of Oklahoma, from which she graduated in May with degrees in online journalism and political science.
While at OU, Weitzel was selected as Carnegie-Knight News21 Investigative Fellow among 30 top journalism students from around the country. She also was senior editor managing a 12-person newsroom in coordination with Oklahoma Watch, a non-profit news organization in eastern Oklahoma.