Applications are currently available for organizations in the Eastern and Charleston area to join in the annual Homecoming parade.

Homecoming will be during the week of Oct. 17 through Oct. 22.

The parade is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 starting at 6th street.

This year’s theme is “No Place Like EIU,” play on words from the line “There’s no place like home,” from the film “The Wizard of Oz.”

The parade typically has over 100 campus and community organizations participate with decorated cars and floats. It draws in local community members, local and state politicians, student organizations, and alumni.

A press release sent out by the university said the deadline to submit forms to be part of the parade will be Friday, Oct. 7 for community organizations and Tuesday, Oct. 11 for entries from Eastern.

No late submissions will be accepted by the Student Activity Center, located on the second floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Different applications are offered so both student and local organizations can be a part of the parade. Each of the online sheets gives organizations a few options for how they want to be represented in the parade.

Three of these options are the same on both forms.

Those shared options are a walking float, a decorated float and a flatbed float. The community application form has a pair of options the student form does not have, such as a band.

Samuel Nusbaum can be reached at 581-2812 or at scnusbaum@eiu.edu.