Port Neches-Groves senior Kendal Bradley was named the 2018 Homecoming Sweetheart during a pre-game ceremony on Friday, Oct. 26 at Indian Stadium.

“It was pretty cool. I couldn’t really hear what was going on,” Bradley said.

“So when I heard ‘Bradley,’ me and my escort (Paul Muse) looked at each other and said, ‘What do we do?’ We just stood there as they took pictures and Dr. Ryan put the headdress on me. He put it over my eyes, too. It’s a really cool tradition at PN-G.”

Jon Deckert, director of student activities — who also went to school at PN-G — was happy to see another year of sweethearts picked.

“I am impartial to who gets nominated,” Deckert said. “I Just wanted it to go without a hiccup.”

Mr. Deckert said the football players from each grade level nominate a sweetheart candidate and the students vote on who they want to be the sweetheart for their respective grades.

Across the state of Texas, homecomings are typically celebrated with a king and a queen, who get crowned, but PN-G has a tradition where instead of getting a crown the sweetheart gets a war bonnet

Each grade level gets a sweetheart, too, and the school had computer rooms open for voting, and voting accessible on student devices.

This was also the first year where the girls were given fresh, real flowers instead of a fake bouquet that had been used since the late 70s.

This is also the second year where the homecoming dance has come back to the school; because of a lack of students attending before 2018.

The seniors passed around a petition last year to make sure the dance was brought back, and got over 500 signatures for it.

“It was a fun, cool time. No one wanted to dress casual,” Bradley said.

“It was a good win and everyone was happy it was a exciting time for all the students and parents to see.”