Event Details:

Join us to walk in the MSU Homecoming parade with RPCVs, Peace Corps Prep program undergraduates, MSU's Peace Corps recruiters, and other friends of Peace Corps!

Please RSVP on our SignUpGenius link so we have an idea of how many people to expect.

DATE

• Friday, October 18, 2024

** NEW FOR 2024 **

• We will have a pickup truck this year, to allow some of our group members to remain seated during the parade. We know some of our group members are OG volunteers who served in the 1960s and it's getting harder for our amazing octogenarians to walk the whole route, plus of course there may be others of any age who might do better riding for part or all of the route, so we found a friend of Peace Corps with a truck to loan!

TIME

• Participants can arrive starting at 4:45pm (by which time we'll be in place at our assigned spot) and no later than 5:30pm. Campus folks will check in for our group at about 4:30, so feel free to come a bit later, but plan to find us no later than 5:30. The parade will begin at 6:00pm sharp.

WHO

• RPCVs and their families, friends from your host country, families of current Volunteers, Peace Corps Prep Program participants, applicants waiting for invitations to serve—we're hoping for a big group!

PARKING & SHUTTLE ** CHANGES THIS YEAR **

• Due to a conflicting event at East Lansing High School, parade parking WILL NOT be available at the school this year.
• Instead, parade participants can park at Eastminster Presbyterian Church (1315 Abbot Rd, East Lansing) and a shuttle will be available to take you down Abbot to the parade staging area. Shuttles will run from 4:00-5:30pm.

PARADE STAGING AREA

• Staging takes place in front of the East Lansing Hannah Community Center (819 Abbot Rd).

FINDING US

• Folks from the MSU Peace Corps program will check in on behalf of the group. We won't know until then what spot we'll be given in the lineup. We will have Peace Corps signage, so you can look for us up and down Abbot Road in front of the Hannah Center. If you can't find us, call or text Joy at 517-599-7929 and we'll tell you where we are!

PARADE ROUTE

• The parade will begin at the intersection of Abbot Road and Burcham Drive at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, will travel south on Abbot Road, east on Grand River, south at Collingwood, south on Farm Lane and will conclude at the corner of Farm and Shaw Lanes.
• The parade route is about one and a half miles.

AFTER THE PARADE

• There will be a shuttle available in the driveway next to the MSU Planetarium to take you back to the church parking lot to your vehicle. 
• ** NEW FOR 2024 **: We will also have at least one vehicle parked near the end of the route to bring small groups back to the parking lot if the shuttle is really backed up, as has happened in the past.

WHAT TO WEAR

• Comfortable walking shoes!! Also feel free to wear either a Peace Corps shirt with a logo or an outfit/clothing from your country of service.

WHAT TO BRING

• MSU folks will bring candy to hand out. You are welcome to bring other items like temporary tattoos, stickers, pencils, more candy, etc. MSU is very specific that items must be handed out, not thrown. If thrown, MSU states you will be asked to leave the parade.
• We will also have a Peace Corps banner and posters representing the current service sectors.
• You are free to bring anything else you like to celebrate Peace Corps (e.g., flags of host country, handmade baskets to hold candy for distribution).
• You may want to bring a water bottle as well.

PLEASE RSVP

• Please RSVP on our SignUpGenius link so we have an idea of how many people to expect.

QUESTIONS? LOST?

• Text or call Joy at 517-599-7929

For questions about this event, contact MSU's Peace Corps Recruiters at msupeace(at)msu.edu.

For more information about MSU's Peace Corps Recruitment Office, visit our website.