“It’s a nice snapshot of the history of UW-Whitewater,” Homecoming Steering Committee Co-adviser Jan Bilgen said.

For current students, it’s a chance to see homecoming traditions of another era. For alumni, it will be a chance to walk down memory lane.

The idea for the exhibit came from Bilgen, Steering Committee Co-adviser Kim Clarksen and Fiskum Art Gallery Supervisor Kim Adams.

“We said ‘what if during this homecoming we put together an exhibit that celebrates 25 years of history of homecoming and the homecoming steering committees?’” Adams said.

Bilgen, Clarksen and Adams managed to get in contact with previous homecoming steering committee members to provide many of the items that are on display.

They decided to do a 25-year exhibit, despite the fact that homecoming has been a tradition for 60 years, because a 60-year celebration would have been too much.

“We decided we wanted to have a beginning and an end, so we thought 25 years would give us a nice scope of information and that alums that come back for homecoming can see themselves in the exhibit as well,” Bilgen said.

Clarksen said not everything has been the same during homecoming in the past several decades.

“There have been a lot of changes to homecoming in the last 60 years,” Clarksen said. “In the last 25 years there have been some very static things far as tug-of-war and the variety show … students today that will visit the gallery will see things that are different but also connect with what they’re doing now to the history of homecoming.”

A number of items are being loaned and donated from past steering committee members and local businesses such as a bed frame, police saddle, big wheel and beer cases.

The bed frame and big wheel may remind alumni of the bed races and big wheel races. The saddle, loaned by a former officer, is a reminder of the mounted police team that was on campus.

There will also be 25 years worth of promotional items such as, buttons, jackets and shirts.

Collages comprised of pictures from the Minneiska yearbooks will be up for display, as well as collages from each homecoming year of the last 25 years.

Those collages will then be permanently set up in the Down Under.

On homecoming day, Oct. 29, Fiskum Gallery will host an open house.

Normally closed on Saturdays, the gallery will be open so students and alumni can mingle and view the exhibits. The open house will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in between the parade and the football game. Refreshments will be served.

Spirit trophies on display from past Greek, resident hall and student organizations will be given to this year’s organization winners at the homecoming game.

The “25 Years of Homecoming” exhibit runs in the Fiskum Art Gallery weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. now through the end of the month.