Southwest Fest may feature 'biggest game of the season'
Sept. 19, 2000
KALAMAZOO -- Southwest Fest on Saturday, Sept. 23, promises to be another great day for football, food and fun. The annual community-wide event marks the University's second home football game.
This year, the WMU Broncos (2-1) will take on the University of Toledo Rockets (3-0), an increasingly important Mid-American Conference rival in the MAC season opener for both teams. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. in Waldo Stadium.
A major part of the festivities will be a special halftime show with the Temptations Review with Dennis Edwards. The Motown group will be backed up by the WMU Marching Band during the exciting halftime show and a post-game show. The group's appearance is being sponsored by the Greenleaf Companies and Harold Ziegler Auto Group.
Earlier in the day, from 3 to 6 p.m., food and entertainment will be provided for students during the Ultimate Student Tailgate at Kanley Track. This will be the third year for the free nonalcoholic celebration, which has the underlying goal of educating students about personal safety issues and responsible choices with respect to alcohol.
As usual before home football games, private tailgate parties will be held in a "Corporate Village" set up at Hyames Field next to Waldo Stadium. The village has a 55-tent capacity and is sold out for Southwest Fest.
The football game with Toledo is one of the biggest games on the Broncos' 2000 schedule. The winner of Saturday night's game will be heavily favored to finish as this season's MAC West Division champion, and the Rockets have won the past six contests between the two teams.
The Broncos are the defending MAC West champions and are coming off a huge 56-0 win against Indiana State University this past Saturday at Waldo Stadium. The game, WMU's annual CommUniverCity Night, drew 36,361 fans and set a MAC single-game attendance record. Not only have the Broncos set a new MAC home attendance mark at each of the past three CommUniverCity Night contests, they also now own the three largest home attendance records in MAC history.
Media contact: Jeanne Baron, 616 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu