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By Najm Jabbar –

Friday night, September 4, 2015, was special night for the Links who attended the Homecoming Dance at Lincoln High School. “It was a very fun time to remember,” senior Homecoming Queen Diana Elias said.

The Homecoming dance started after the game in which the Links played against North Platte. The team lost the heartbreaker in the closing minutes of the game. With about 8 minutes left on the clock, North Platte recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to come within three points, and then they kicked a field goal to tie the game. The Links failed to score in overtime, and North Platte kicked a field goal to win.

But the loss didn’t dampen spirits at the dance.

“We sold about 650 tickets before the dance, which makes the dance larger than last year’s,” Student Council sponsor and English teacher Nikki Barnes, said. Tickets were sold for $5 on both Tuesday and Wednesday of Spirit Week, and was raised to $10 on Thursday, but there were no tickets sold on the day of the dance.

“Student council students plan all of the decorations, we order them, and then they spend after school on Friday getting everything set up. Then they also tear everything down afterward,” Barnes said. They also relied on staff and volunteers to do things like organizing the coat check and taking tickets.

The Tropical Safari theme of the dance was set in the hallways of the South Building.

“The dance was very organized and all the people in student council who sponsored it were very friendly and kind. And the theme was very fun and peppy,” Hannah Delaney, a senior at Northeast who was invited to the dance, said.

The high-spirited music that was played received a variety of reviews from the students. Even though the DJs, Jeremy and Melissa, explained that they had to be careful in choosing the school-appropriate songs, some students found the music older than they expected.

Around 10:30 p.m., the royalty candidates were called outside of the South Gym while the students inside were getting ready for the announcing of the 2015-2016 Homecoming royalty winners.

Barnes started by announcing the 9th grade Lady and Lord, which were: Lydia Rathe (Lady) and Carter Yost (Lord). Next, the sophomores were announced. They included Julia McMahon-Cole (Duchess) and Keith Tran (Duke). The Juniors results were Zoe Arnold (Princess) and Ryan Ehlers (Prince). Finally, the night ended with the seniors. The queen was Diana Elias and the king was Jacob Evans.

“A lot more people voted this year than in years past, so that was nice to have more students participate in the elections. Some of them were really really close, like down to the last day of voting,” Barnes said.