WHITE OAK, Texas — There’s nothing quite like a small-town homecoming, and in East Texas, White Oak is celebrating in a big way with their unique traditions. It may be unusual, but they only celebrate every three years.
"But from the inside looking out you can't imagine it any other way," said Homecoming Coordinator Dana Mizell.
It’s a tradition White Oak has kept since World War II.
"All of our men left. We had juniors and seniors left to go join (the service), and we had recent graduates go to go join. And the decision was made then, we aren’t doing a homecoming until our boys come back," Mizell said.
Three years later, they held a big homecoming celebration when they returned. Now, it’s tradition to celebrate tri-annually and in a big way.
"So for the Friday night festivities, our floral department we have here at the school has built a 15 foot mum that will hang on our derrick," Mizell said.
And the list goes on. In fact, the celebration is expected to attract nearly 12,000 people all coming back for events like a skydiver delivering the game ball, White Oak alumni and world-ranked archers lighting an oil derrick by flaming arrows, and fireworks.
The festivities continue into Saturday as well, and Mizell says, we "just have a great time being together, until the next three years."