Heritage High School’s homecoming certainly looks promising with the football team’s success this season, and it is sure to be unique this year with a homecoming court of nine wonderful young ladies instead of the typical eight. This larger court is due to a momentous event in Heritage homecoming history: Madison Damron and Mollie Johnson, two seniors, tied, not once, but twice for the court. The final decision was to put both girls on the court.

Mollie Johnson, who is the president of the National Honor Society, a part of band leadership, and an active worker in the school’s graphic design department, was shocked primarily by even being selected. “A few people told me they were going to vote for me,” explained Mollie, but she didn’t think much of it. Similarly, Madison Damron, a member of chorus, HOSA, the National Honor Society, and the Beta Club, had no idea she would be a candidate for the court. When the girls heard of the first tie, both were shocked, but they were happy to hear the tie was between them. “I’ve known her [Madison] since kindergarten,” says Mollie; she and Madison have always been friends. As the second vote came around, each wanted to be on the court, of course, but at the same time, they were rooting for one another. “She [Mollie] deserves it more than anybody,” Madison states. When the vote was once again tied, they thought they would have to suffer through a third, but Madison and Mollie were elated to hear that they would both be on the court.

Mrs. Petteys, who was in charge of counting the votes, was equally amazed at the two-time tie. When she counted the second vote and found that they had tied yet again, she saw Mrs. Lann, a fellow worker on the homecoming court, in the hall. “You’re not going to believe this; they tied again,” Petteys said to Lann. She presented the votes to Mr. Bradford and told him he was welcome to count the ballots again. They decided the best choice would be to simply put both girls on the homecoming court. This is the first time two nominees for the court have tied twice, and it is also the first time there have been six seniors in the running for homecoming queen. It’s wonderful to know that the two young ladies are in such good spirits about it. Of course, why wouldn’t they be? One can be sure that they’ll both be extremely happy to stand on that field in those lovely gowns!