Just as the leaves began to turn from deep green to royal gold, Northwestern Lehigh’s students casted their votes for their own royalty in preparation for one of the signature events of the fall season.

Homecoming 2015 will take place Oct. 9, the night the Tigers face the Salisbury Township Falcons football team.

Girls on this year’s homecoming court include Kelsie Beck, McKenzi Divers, Jessica Heydlauf, Devon Nothstein, Claire O’Dea, Taylor Slack, Abby Smith and Erika Thomas.

The boys are: Harry Hall, Dan Hallingstad, Chet Karpyn, Christian Parker, Eddie Parrish, Brandon Segan, Andrew Sorensen and Michael Zimmerman.

“I think the class on the whole made great choices on who they chose for the court,” said Steph Dunbar, one of the two class advisers.

“For the most part they are deserving,” agreed Lauren Elsenbaumer, her co-adviser. “I came out into the hall right after the court was announced and loved feeling the excitement as the kids talked about the names of the court members.”

This excitement was felt by all those voted on to the court.

“When Mr. Zimmerman announced the court, I was ecstatic,” said Hallingstad. “It was near the end of the period and the class was lined up at the door when my name was announced and my peers applauded me.”

“I felt happy and the whole class actually applauded for me,” agreed Segan. “It’s nice to know my classmates think I’m a good person.”

“I was in economics class along with six other winners,” said Parrish. “The entire experience brought us closer together as classmates and as family.”

“I texted my mom right after I heard and she was so happy for me,” said Slack. “It’s such an honor.”

“It is an honor,” agreed Thomas. “I was very surprised and happy to be given the opportunity to represent my school.”

“I was super excited,” said Heydlauf. “It felt great to know my peers elected me to represent the class [at this year’s] homecoming court.”

In the past, Heydlauf’s sister Abby served on the court and Smith’s older sister Haley and Hall’s older brother Joe were crowned queen and king, respectively.

Hall’s oldest brother Mark, was also on the court as was Segan’s sister, Sarah.

“My mom was the queen at Panther Valley High School,” said Sorensen. Beck’s mother was also on her high school court.

“It is very humbling that I can carry on the traditions of past seniors and be a part of the court,” said Zimmerman. “Homecoming is an event I’ve always looked forward to.”

“It brings the whole community together,” agreed Hall. “I feel honored to be on the court.”

“It unites alumni and current students at a home football game where the senior class for that year is recognized,” said Smith.

“It brings old friends and new friends together for one exciting and event filled weekend,” said O’Dea.

“The whole school comes together as one [to] show their pride and appreciation for Northwestern,” said Nothstein. “It’s important especially for seniors because it is one of our last moments [to be] together before we graduate.”

Dressing for the occasion requires some thought.

Parker spoke for most of the boys when he said he would be wearing “a shirt, tie and slacks.”

Beck seemed to echo the rest of the girls on the court opting for a “sweater dress, scarf and boots.”

“Each member of the court will be introduced at the game,” said Elsenbaumer. “A short bio on each member will be included in the football program and each member of the court will be wearing a black-and-white sash. The king and queen will be announced at the game.”

The three members of the court who are football players are optimistic about the game against Salisbury. “We’re going to win,” said Karpyn who is unhappy that he is out for the next six weeks because of a foot injury.

“We were very upset that Chet got hurt. He’s the best lineman,” said Sorensen, but he agreed that the prospect of a win was still good. “In the past three games we only allowed one touchdown.” Hall is the third senior to be doing double duty on Friday.

“This is the first year we did on line voting,” Elsenbaumer explained. “It didn’t pose any problems. We didn’t have to count the votes. It was tallied for us. We announced [the court] on Friday.”

“You had to log in with your Northwestern ID in a 24 hour time span from third period on a Wednesday to third period on Thursday. [Students] could use their own computers,” said Dunbar. “You could only vote if you’re a senior. We had 151 responses. Google Docs broke it all down.”

The Homecoming dance scheduled on Saturday will round out the weekend festivities. “The officers of the senior class discussed decorations, snacks and tickets for the dance on the 10th,” said Dunbar. “They opted to get sashes and flowers for all the members of the court with a special arrangement for the queen.”

Class officers are Quentin Bernhard, president; Christian Parker, vice president; Emma Conrey, treasurer and McKenzi Divers, secretary. A council of about 20 seniors assists the class officers. “They are a great bunch of hard working students who are very dedicated to help the officers,” said Dunbar. “They work well together.”

“A DJ was booked and the officers just wanted a lot of water and snacks like bags of chips and pretzels to purchase,” said Dunbar.

“Tickets are $10 and $15 at the door and proceeds profit the class of 2016. The dance is open to everyone.”

Prior to the big event, the Class of 2016 sold homecoming T-shirts designed by art teacher Kathy Kehs and Scribbles and Drips, a local design company.

“We’ve been their advisers since they were sophomores,” said Elsenbaumer. “They’re very nice kids. I probably had at least half of the graduating class [in Spanish class.] They’re excited to be seniors and they’re interested in what’s to come after high school.

Divers summarized just why homecoming has such a special place at the high school and in the surrounding area. “It is an annual event that everyone in the community, of all ages, attends,” she said.

“Some show up because their kid plays football, some because their kid is on the court, reminiscing about their days of high school.

“Some attend just because Northwestern wouldn’t be Northwestern without the support of the community.”