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COLUMBIA — On Sunday, downtown Columbia was an echo of itself the night before. The crowds were gone, trash was visible on the ground and cars were able to travel normally through the streets.
A rush of fans onto Faurot Field moved to the streets and bars of downtown after the Missouri Tigers' victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night.
- Members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Moberly traveled 20 miles south to Columbia to help with the Homecoming cleanup on Sunday. Here, they're working a lot near Faurot Field.
- Trash bags line the parking lots near Faurot Field the day after Missouri's historic win over Oklahoma, the top-ranked team in the Bowl Championship Series standings. Beer cans, beer bottles, leftover food and lost car keys were among the things volunteers picked up from tailgating areas.
- Johnston family members Lance, left, Jolene, center, and Lauren work together to remove an oversized bag from a trash can on Sunday near Faurot Field. The Johnstons were among a volunteer group from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Moberly.
Sam Thomas, an employee of the Columbia Public Works Department, found himself cleaning up after the revelry he had enjoyed the night before.
“Normally we clean (the streets) Monday morning, but this was a special occasion,” he said.
Just as the outside of Harpo's had been a gathering point for fans wanting a piece of the goal posts, it was also where cleaning crews were concentrating their attention.
Thomas said crews had already filled two big trash bags from the area on Cherry Street between Tenth and Ninth streets by 2 p.m. Sunday.
Along with trash pickup, popular downtown business windows were being washed of their Tiger pride.
The storefronts all needed to be restored to their usual conditions by 2:30 p.m. today, said See Yang, a member of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' student council. Yang and Wes Delaney, also a member of the council, were cleaning up their organization's display at Yogoluv.
“Seating was horrible, but it was just one of those moments where you’re happy to be from Mizzou,” Yang said, about her experience on Saturday night.
Noah Stoll, a freshman in Alpha Gamma Sigma, and his fellow pledges were still talking about the win as they were taking down their display at Kaldi’s on Sunday afternoon.
“Anything and everything on the field was taken — whether it was a random flag or the pylons — just to say you had something from the OU upset,” he said.
It was Stoll's first MU homecoming and his first time being part of such a large and exuberant crowd.
“It was one of the best feelings ever," Stoll said. "Everyone was partying together, and it didn’t matter if you knew them or not.”
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