O Dixie We Love Thee

So I know I have a lot to catch up on, and don't worry, there are great posts in the works. But this post demands immediate attention.

You all know how much I love my alma mater, Dixie High School. I have school spirit steaming out my ears (still, after 5 years).  Many of you also know about a lovely little tradition called the Bucket Run.

It's done once a year, on the Friday of "D Week," also known as, "D Day." Other D Day events include class olympics, a senior showoff talent show, and the ceremonial annual painting of the "DIXIE" on the Sugar Loaf (a red mountain just up from the Boulevard in St. George). Only the "Diamond D's" get to paint the Dixie. And you can guess that I was one of those lucky few.

me being lowered over the cliff.. to paint

So the Bucket Run is a relay race. Kind of. There's only one team. The current senior class competes with all senior classes before them. In 2006, when I was a senior, the record had just been beaten by the class of 2005 the year before. The race starts at the high school and goes up Main Street to the aforementioned Sugar Loaf. At the bottom of the mountain, there is some sort of device built by the current senior class to get the bucket to the top. In theory, the bucket holds the paint that will be used to paint the "Dixie." Within the last 40 or so years, though, they started using the same bucket every year, and just left the paint out. It was heavy and slowed people down. So they still use the same bucket and it's a duct taped and trashed. But so historic, right?
The following video is the 2006 Bucket Run. Yes, those are my classmates. Aren't they cool? ha.



Anyway, that's a little bit of the background.

This year is Dixie High School's centennial year. That makes this year's Bucket Run the 100th. For the Centennial Bucket Run, they did things a little bit different. First of all, they've had to update the route a little bit. A new road to the top of the hill was built, and we were able to maintain the old one for the past couple of years to maintain the integrity of the Bucket Run, but with the 100 year mark, the administration decided that it was a good time to give it up (which is sad, but you move on). But, with the new route, there has to be a new record. That means that the class of 2005 record stands-- and the 2011 Bucket Run sets the new record.

The second change is that the class of 2011 still did their thing, but running alongside them was a Bucket Run team of alumni. Yep, you guessed it. I. ran. the. Bucket. Run. Today. TODAY. I didn't run it when I was a senior because I'm, well, not a runner. I don't really run. They basically had try-outs and practices and it was all intense and despite my school spirit, I couldn't bring myself to participate and ruin it for everyone because of my incompetence. All the track/cross country/soccer/football people ran. You know, you have to be serious about these sorts of things if you want to claim the title (which we didn't anyway).

So I made my brother come with me. I picked him up this morning a little before 6, we met up with all the alumni (there were only about 33 of us), and then got in trucks to be dropped of at our spots along the relay. And I was SO nervous!!! What if I dropped the bucket??!?! WHAT IF?

Luckily, I didn't. I ran really hard (but probably not very fast), and was a little queasy after.

And you know what? We totally trashed the class of 2011. By like 18 seconds (I promise that's a long time). Poor high school kids. Beaten by mighty Dixie alumni. I was on the alumni team, and we STILL won. But do you know what that means? I was a member of the Bucket Run team that currently holds the record. I am a Bucket Run record holder. And honestly, not a lot of people can say that!!!

Me and brother-- on the top of the Sugar Loaf. Isn't my city beautiful? You can even see the "D" in the background.

After the race was over, we all met up on the Sugar Loaf-- and both teams got in a circle and sang our beloved high school hymn together ("O Dixie We Love Thee"). Precious moment.

I rock. The Bucket Run rocks. Dixie High School rocks. Yay 100 years of the happiness that is DHS.

And because I know you want more information on Dixie's centennial, you can go to the blog: http://dixie100.blogspot.com/. There is an awesome "This Day in Dixie history" calendar that shows events at Dixie High School from the past 100 years. I just want to shower presents upon whoever took the time to create this blog, because it is a masterpiece.