Thousands of students packed Broughdale Avenue and Huron Street under the watchful eye of London Police during Homecoming weekend at Western University. ‘It’s like Christmas,” said Hunter Ellis, a fourth-year student who has lived on Broughdale for three years. “It’s the biggest party school in Canada.” The street is the epicentre of the weekend party. “It’s the best holiday ever,” said roommate Douglas Bond. “We try to keep the house a little tame, but it gets a little messed up. It’s fun to see the whole school come together.” Members of the London Police Service (LPS) along with paramedics and firefighters were all stationed along Audrey Street between Broughdale and Huron. “We have additional officers from Windsor, from Hamilton, as well as the OPP assisting us on the ground here in relation to any of the unsanctioned gatherings that take place,” said Sgt. Sandasha Bough of the LPS. This year the City of London put up barricades along Richmond Street and closed one of the southbound lanes to keep students away from traffic. “We’ve closed at least one of the lanes on Richmond to ensure public safety,” said Bough. “We’ve put some additional closures in and around Broughdale and Audrey to ensure that everybody who is out here gathering stays off of the roadway to ensure public safety as well.” Across campus a much more subdued party was being held outside Alumni Stadium. Current and former cheerleaders were gathering for a tailgate party. “It really is just a purple and proud moment,” said former National Champion cheerleader Michelle Brock. “Once a mustang, always a mustang and it’s just so great to come back and see everybody again. We’ve been coming back now, I guess, for 35 years. Believe it or not and it’s so much fun every time. We meet our old friends and former teammates and the new teammates, it’s great to see the tradition continue.” Chris and Monika Yashar met while members of the Mustangs Cheer team, and now their daughter, Sammy, is on the team. “It is a great opportunity to sort of reconnect with all the folks that we were on the team with 30-ish years ago, but it’s also a great opportunity to see my daughter sort of start going through the same thing,” said Chris. “Interestingly enough, I think we’re the only husband and wife team whose kid is now a cheerleader as well.” On the way into the stadium, London Mayor Josh Morgan – a Western University graduate – stopped to tell CTV News what Homecoming means to him. “I came here in 1998, and actually, it was my reason for coming to the city and I never left,” said Morgan, who came from outside the Sarnia-area to attend school. “I ended up becoming the mayor, so Homecoming is a nice reminder to see old friends and where my story in London really began.” Inside a sold-out Alumni Stadium the Western Mustangs football team stayed undefeated by beating visiting McMaster 32-25. More than 10,000 people witnessed London, Ont. wide receiver Emmett Charles haul in three touchdowns in the second quarter as the Mustangs won to improve to 4-0 this year. Back at Broughdale Avenue, LPS were keeping a close eye on the activity. Bough told CTV News that information on incidents will be released in the coming days. “We will collect information from our community partners throughout the weekend and hopefully at the beginning of next week at some point, we’ll be able to share those numbers with you,” said Bough. Just after 4 p.m., the London police declared the festivities on Broughdale Avenue a nuisance party. Partygoers were asked to clear the area by police. More photos of the weekend are available in CTV London’s photo galleries.
