St. Bede to host annual homecoming celebration Sept. 24–29

St. Bede Academy in Peru is ready to welcome home its alumni and friends for the academy’s largest celebration of the year.

Students will kick off the homecoming festivities with a school pep rally on Tuesday, Sept. 24. The annual girls powder puff football game will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25.

On Friday, Sept. 27, the annual homecoming parade will march through downtown Peru on Fourth Street, starting at West Street to the St. Bede Lane. Parade time will be at 5 p.m. St. Bede’s Abbot Michael Calhoun, OSB ‘89 will lead the march. Entries include alumni, student clubs, athletic teams, the St. Bede band, faculty and staff and local organizations supporting the academy.

Immediately following the parade will be the all-school student cookout and the student variety show. The variety show begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Abbot Vincent Gymnasium. On Friday evening, many classes ending in “4″ and “9″ will celebrate their reunions at various locations around the Illinois Valley.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the annual Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the gymnasium. This year, three individuals and a former football team will be inducted. The inductees include: The 1973-74 football team, which was ranked first in the state and had an overall record of 35-7; Marissa (Piacenti) Jobe ‘99, a standout gymnast who competed on a national level in gymnastics; Patrick Mulligan ‘74 (posthumously), who was a three-sport athlete during his time at St. Bede and William Van Daele ‘74, a standout football player and member of the track team.

Also, on Saturday, Sept. 28, the academy will open its doors from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for tours of the renovations. The renovations include restored classrooms and corridors, modern classroom furniture, lockers, windows and upgrades to the infrastructure, such as electrical and heating and cooling systems. These renovations are all part of the academy’s $15 million capital campaign for academy improvements, which was launched in 2014 and is slated to end this year.

The varsity football game will kick off at 1 p.m. where St. Bede will take on Marquette Academy. During the halftime show, the class of ‘74 will be honored for its 50th reunion anniversary. Members of the class will be escorted onto the football team by the St. Bede cheerleaders to be recognized for raising more than $25,000 for their class gift, which supported the 2024 Fund-A-Need project for Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms in the gymnasium. Each year, the class celebrating their 50th reunion become “Golden Bedans” of the academy. The halftime show will also feature a performance by our cheer team.

Following the football game, the annual BruinsJam concert, featuring a lineup of performances by St. Bede alumni, will play into the evening. This year’s lineup of bands includes, The Todd Witek Band, The Old 77s and The Skabs. At BruinsJam, all are welcome to hear live music, enjoy food vendors and gather with former classmates and friends of St. Bede. This year, St. Bede has the largest number of reunion classes gathering on campus during BruinsJam – three of those classes are celebrating reunions beyond their 50th year.

On Sunday, Sept. 29, the annual alumni Mass will be at 10 a.m., where a formal induction of the Golden Bedan class will take place. The annual Bruins Brunch, hosted by the St. Bede Alumni Association, will follow and be held in the Perino Science Center. During the brunch, this year’s Distinguished Alumnus Award will be presented to James B. Gamache ‘72.

The weekend will conclude Sunday evening with the annual Homecoming student dance.

For more information about Homecoming 2024, visit St. Bede’s website, www.st-bede.com/homecoming. A full schedule of events can be found on the website. Also, follow the St. Bede Academy social media pages for coverage of the weekend events.