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OGDEN -- A merry brigade of bucketeers gathered to put down buckets of Weber State purple paint on 25th Street, while another band of bucketeers waited to take the stage.
Approximately 275 Wildcats gathered Monday at Ogden Amphitheater and on the road outside to paint a purple, yellow and white W on the street, marking the kickoff of homecoming week.
After a pep rally featuring cheerleaders, WSU volleyball coach Al Givens and football coach Ron McBride, the percussion group Buckets and Tap Shoes took the stage to dance and pound out tunes on overturned buckets.
Not all the paint ended up on the street.
Besides the usual splatters and splashes, more than a few handprints and brush strokes ended up on the painters' clothes.
Sisters Kayla and Kathy Horsley were helping to paint the W, but Kathy decided to paint her face purple as well.
Why?
"Because I have Wildcat spirit!" Kathy said, before admitting she doesn't go to Weber State -- yet.
Kathy, 15, is a Ben Lomond High School 10th-grader who promised to put her purple mug shot on Facebook, while Kayla, 17, is majoring in clinical lab sciences at Weber State.
"Painting the street is fun," Kayla said, before leaving a swipe of purple across Kathy's leg.
Jenny Petersen said the homecoming committee spent the entire summer planning this week's events.
"We have just been working as a group, and it's been great," Petersen said. "It's very time-consuming. We all just brainstormed, just put a bunch of ideas on the table and went with what the vote was throughout the week.
"We have some great activities throughout the week, some really fun ones, different ones from last year."
Buckets and Tap Shoes will give an encore performance at noon today at the Shepherd Union Wildcat Theater.
Also planned through the week: a tailgate party before Wednesday's volleyball match, a stargazing party at the Ott Planetarium on Thursday, Friday's homecoming dance and another tailgate party before the 1:30 p.m. football game Saturday against Sacramento State at Stewart Stadium.
"They wanted traditional students, nontraditional students -- they wanted the community," said Nancy Collinwood, WSU student activities director. "They wanted something for everyone to be able to celebrate Weber State."
The W has been painted on downtown streets for the last four or five years, where it had been done years ago as well, Collinwood said.
Blake Garner, a member of the Purple Pak board and Weber State's student alumni association, said the Purple Pak is planning a "Purple Out" for Saturday's homecoming football game and is trying to get everyone to wear purple to the stadium.
"You come down to get involved because Weber is a big part of the city," Garner said.
"It's why we're here, it's why we support Ogden, it's why we're involved. It's what runs this town. It's a big university; we need to make it a university. We need to compete with all the other (state) universities and get a big turnout."
Garner, a business administration major, said he'll graduate in 2012.
After greeting the crowd and teasing the Wildcats' cheerleaders, McBride told the crowd he appreciates their support at football games.
"It makes a big difference when the crowd is there," McBride said. "We need you. We hear you."
