MSU President's Newspaper Column
July 19, 2025
Homecoming/Farmers Bowl 2025 will be a time for celebrating, reminiscing
Mark your calendar for Sept. 26-27, the weekend when Mayville State Homecoming meets Farmers Bowl for an epic Comets Family Reunion! A combined celebration for these two special events first came together in 2023 and it has proven to be a big hit. The 2025 edition is sure to be an outstanding weekend for Mayville State alumni and friends!
Lots of great plans are underway, and the Alumni Association board and Athletic Hall of Fame committee have done their work to name this year’s Homecoming honorees. The preparations and planning will all culminate in a time to recognize people for their achievements, a time to gather, a time to celebrate our agricultural way of life, and a time to reminisce and remember our roots.
We’ll be celebrating the positive momentum we are experiencing at Mayville State, including the incredible renovation of our beloved Old Main. While times are yet to be determined, we anticipate offering tours of the building. Stay tuned for more information that will be coming soon.
Events on Friday, Sept. 26 will include time for socializing and the Homecoming Awards Dinner, which will begin at 6 p.m. in the Campus Center Luckasen Room. The Athletic Hall of Fame and Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame inductees will be honored, as will the recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Homecoming 2025 honorees are:
Athletic Hall of Fame inductees - 1999 Baseball Team, Larry Omdahl (‘73), Dave Ouradnik (‘72), DeMarcus Rideaux (‘07), and Scott Terry (‘93);
Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame inductee - Bruce Belseth (‘81);
Distinguished Alumni Award recipients - Marlene (Viseth) Kensrud (‘75) and Alan O’Neil (‘79).
The program will also include recognition of the Lyngs for their generosity and dedication to Mayville State University. Homecoming/Farmers Bowl 2025 will mark the official opening of the Jim Lyng Athletic Hall of Fame located in the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse, as well as the naming of the Dr. Merwin and Myrna Lyng Department of Mathematics, which will be acknowledged in the Classroom Building.
The Alumni Association board is inviting everyone to come by and see the beautiful Edson and Margaret Larson Alumni and Leadership Center and the lovely and meaningful gardens that surround the building starting at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 27. This will be followed by the traditional Ceremony of Remembrance at the Military Honor Garden starting at 9:30 a.m.
The parade will begin in downtown Mayville at 11 a.m. It will start just north of the Goose River Bank and follow Main Street through town, ending at Jerome Berg Field. We’re excited that we’ll be able to have our homecoming honorees be a part of the parade. Immediately following is the corn on the cob and hot dog feed and pre-game festival outside of Jerome Berg Field. There will be inflatable games for the kids and fun for all.
A Hall of Fame on the 5s Reunion will start at 11:30 a.m. at “The Grove” tailgating area northwest of Jerome Berg Hall. This gathering is meant to bring together Athletic Hall of Fame teams marking anniversaries in five-year increments since they played at Mayville State. The teams being honored this year are the 1955-56 baseball team, 1965 football team, 1970 baseball team, 1990 baseball team, 1990 football team, 1960-61 basketball team, 1995-96 men’s basketball team, and 2005-06 basketball team.
The Comets will host Arizona Christian University in the Farmers Bowl/Homecoming football game starting at 2 p.m.
The grand finale for the weekend will be the much-anticipated Farmers Bowl Auction. Socializing and bidding on the silent auction will begin at 5 p.m., and the live auction will begin at 7 p.m. This event provides a great venue for an enjoyable evening of socializing and bidding which is being held for a great cause, Mayville State University and its students.
A celebration like this would not be possible without a lot of planning and effort put forth by many. We are extremely grateful for the alumni, friends, employees, students, financial supporters, community members, and others who are coming together to make this happen. You can see all the details at www.mayvillestate.edu/homecoming2025.