SYCAMORE – Austin Bockman and Brittany Moudy had a difficult task Wednesday: Combine a day at the beach with the world of the Sycamore High School engineering club for the homecoming parade.

“You wouldn’t think those two things usually go together,” said Bockman, a senior and homecoming king nominee.

But the engineering club managed to turn its golf cart into a colorful, tropical display to match this year’s parade theme: “A Night at the Beach.”

“I didn’t like the theme at first, but now that I actually see it, it’s pretty cool,” Moudy said.

Sycamore High School was dismissed at 2 p.m., earlier than usual, Wednesday to give students time to travel to the armory on East State Street and use paper, glitter, glue, tropical cut-outs and anything else at their disposal to make their floats as beachy as possible.

“It’s cool to see what the kids create, and how creative they are,” said Drayton Eggleson, Student Council co-adviser.

This week, the school has been involved in several spirit events, including Wednesday’s ugly sweater day, explaining why several students and faculty wore Christmas sweaters while decorating their beach-themed float.

Forty carts each representing a different Sycamore club or organization, plus trailers hauling different sports teams, began lining up at former Brown’s County Market at 5:30 p.m. before the parade began at 6 p.m.

The streets were packed with onlookers as they lined the sidewalk to admire the floats and wave to those they knew in the parade.

Joy Walter of Sycamore had a prime spot with her car parked on the street.

“It’s a great opportunity for the community to come together and see how creative the kids are,” she said.

Her 6-year-old daughter Josie Walter, a third-grader at North Elementary School, said she’s been going to the parade almost her whole life.

“I like the golf carts,” she said. “They’re all different kinds.”

Most of the floats took at least some part of the beach theme to heart when decorating their carts – sharks, volleyballs, surfboards, cardboard palm trees, tiki statues and glittery hula skirts were evident as students packed the armory.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes decorated their cart to resemble an ark.

Sycamore’s FFA, however, decorated its float to look like a combine – something you wouldn’t find at the beach.

“We were going to make a shark, but then last night we realized nobody knew how to make a shark,” said Jillian Diehl, a senior and FFA member. “Everybody knew how to make a combine.”

At least the back of the combine made mention of the beach theme – it said they they were too busy harvesting to relax on the beach.

Each of the 40 groups nominated a homecoming queen and king. In some cases, such as Bockman with the engineering club, the nominees drove the float.

Diehl, who is nominated for queen for FFA, was set to drive her group’s float.

“It’s pretty scary because the whole town will be watching,” she said. “It’s fun though.”

The decorating process was no creative stretch for the school’s art club, according to senior Alyssa Childress.

“It’s different just because we built the majority of what we have,” she said. “Our shark and our surfboard and palm tree, we built. Art club’s always the one to beat.”

John Garman, 78, attended Sycamore High School in the late 1950s. He showed up to the parade dressed in a Spartans shirt and suspenders. He said he attends every Spartan events, including the games. He’ll be at Saturday’s game against the Yorkville Foxes.

“I love the Spartans,” he said. “Go Spartans.”