Homecoming remains an important enough tradition in the Mississippi Delta that the violence that happened in Leland and Rolling Fork in October didn’t diminish the crowds. Relatives still traveled home. Dozens still set up grills and canopies at games. Mississippi Today produced a collection of stories of homecoming events in the Delta, where traditions have evolved over time. INDIANOLA — Local law enforcement tended to a newly installed checkpoint at Perry S. Price Memorial Stadium. Even with the added security for the Gentry High School homecoming, the line out front of the stadium paled in comparison to the one at the concession stand. Across the stadium from the field house, which boasts air conditioning, the concessions shack was equipped with an electronic fan whose blades sluggishly propelled air toward the candies and cashier. Familiar candy and hot chip brands were available, but the crowd-pleasers were mostly homemade: popcorn, nachos and, especially, the pickles soaked in Kool-Aid. Kids as young as six clutched cash in one hand and a superhero backpack in the other in a line that stretched to the chain link fence that lined the field’s perimeter. Other parents and teachers stood parallel to the concession line with relatives on the phone, calling their orders from the road. It was a majority of attendees’ first stop during a day of festivities. Gloria McDuffy Jimison has been making Kool-Aid pickles, also called Koolickles, for Gentry High School homecomings for over two decades. She sometimes makes bucketfuls, at $34 each, for one Chicago family that makes the homecoming trip each year. One repeat customer is a mother who buys 10 bags at most games.  “They say, ‘Let me taste one.’ And then they’re hooked,” McDuffy Jimison said. McDuffy Jimison has perfected the recipe. She experimented with adding sugar from Sno Balls snack cakes. The Koolickles that Gloria McDuffy Jimison makes for Gentry High School homecomings are slices instead of spears. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today Prepared Koolickles chill beneath the counter at the Gentry High School concession stand in Indianola on Oct. 17, 2025. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today To try a quality Kool-Aid pickle is to taste its slippery sweetness and not be turned off by the vinegar aftertaste. It should be both refreshing and hearty, like a more flavorful, firmer and slippier gummy. McDuffy Jimison first tasted a Kool-Aid pickle at a homecoming game in Greenville in the early 1990s. At first intrigued by the fare, she soon resolved to make it better. Back then the concession stand offered two longtime Kool-Aid flavors: tropical punch and cherry. McDuffy Jimison serves two clear favorites: cherry and grape. Kool-Aid pickles originated in the Mississippi Delta. They grew so popular that gas station chain Double Quick, which started in the Delta, began to sell Koolickles in stores. Kool-Aid pickles are most commonly found as pickle spears, but McDuffy Jimison’s version uses hamburger slices. She said they absorb the Kool-Aid sweetness more completely. “If you don’t want to buy candy, it’s the quickest way to get a sugar rush,” she said, citing customers.  As the stadium filled up with fans and families, guards moved from the security checkpoint to the bleachers, guns and tactical gear in tow. The crowd of students, faculty and families split as the men in black and navy took their posts around the stadium. There was a new security checkpoint at the Gentry High School homecoming on Oct. 17, 2025. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today An armed sheriff’s deputy wearing an armored vest stood outside the concession stand. Other deputies with bigger guns and more tactical gear patrolled the grounds. Their presence was a new feature of the homecoming this year. The previous weekend, multiple shootings marred homecoming events across the state. That included a mass shooting after Leland High School’s homecoming. Officials moved the Gentry High homecoming game from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m., which made for a sweatier experience. Many spectators strode in with umbrellas to shield them from the sun. Others pulled foldable chairs beneath the bleachers. Under the canopies of tents, alumni were happy to be home around familiar faces. The additional security and earlier kickoff time didn’t seem to bother them. Qua Hollins traveled from Fort Worth, Texas, for homecoming. He hadn’t been back since he graduated from Gentry High seven years ago. Hollins said it was both surreal and rewarding to cheer for the players who once chanted his name and jersey number when he was a Gentry Ram. Quay Hollins cools off under the shade of an alumni tent at the Gentry High School homecoming on Oct. 17, 2025. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today “They were little kids,” he said, looking toward the field. Hollins’ grandmother raised him in a house on a street populated by abandoned homes in a “rough” part of town, he said. Football kept him on campus most of the week. Hollins’ commute looks different these days. In Fort Worth, he sees high rises and skyscrapers. His work as an engineer puts him in rooms with people from around the world.  “I used to tell my teammates, especially the younger ones, to look at their surroundings. Remember where you come from. Think bigger,” Hollins said. Hollins visited his aunt and reconnected with former classmates. He said he now plans to return home more frequently. “It hasn’t changed at all,” he said of the Delta. “There’s not many places left like that.” ...read more read less