Children, students and the young at heart all could be seen eagerly awaiting the 2008 Homecoming parade.

Despite the cool temperatures, people came prepared, bundled in blankets, letting nothing interfere with them and the parade. Besides, this is how the weather should be.

"This is football weather," said Dennis Simmons, Class of 1977.

The parade kicked off with numerous officials riding in vehicles. Though this wasn't particularly grand, there was an example of camaraderie in this portion of the parade.

When a car that was part of the parade stalled near the Allen Street gates, one man emerged from the crowed to signal others to help him push the car the rest of the way.

As more people volunteered to push the car with him, it served as a reminder of the camaraderie at Penn State.

There was a definite feeling of nostalgia when the marching bands received numerous cheers and pumped up the crowds.

The State College Area High School Band cheered "Go State, Beat Michigan," which brought subsequent cheers from the crowd. The Blue Band and the Alumni Blue Band also brought an eruption of cheers.

As for the floats, there are always the good, the bad and the ugly.

Some of the floats had moving contraptions, such as the Indiana Jones float by Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, which had a moving boulder on top of the hill on the float that would tumble down whenever "Indiana Jones" found the skull.

The Jungle Book float by Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity also had a moving tiger and blasted "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses. The song was a hit with the crowd.

Another distinctive float was the James and the Giant Peach float by Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, which featured the enormous fruit with a hole and the worm dangling out of it. The Operation board game-themed float by Alpha Chi Sigma and Phi Sigma Pi fraternities also proved to be a hit and read "Operation Beat Michigan" along the side of the float.

Other floats were sparsely decorated and appeared as though they were entirely constructed on a severe time crunch. Though the tissue-paper creations typically require hours of gluing, some floats rose above the adversity while others floundered.

On some floats, design flaws made it tough to see the best work, and others seemed to be too sparsely decorated.

But compared to last year's parade, it appeared as though more floats were well thought-out and built with more care. The weather was also less windy than last year, which may have accounted for more floats' remaining intact for a longer period of time.

As the crowd dwindled near the end, either to escape the cold or move on to the pep rally, spirits remained high for Penn State.