The 104th Hobo Day draws near with Grand Pooba Corey Chicoine leading the way.

Chicoine, a fifth-year senior agronomy major, has been working to uphold traditions and leave a legacy for 2016’s Hobo Day.

This year’s tagline “Living the Legacy” resonates deeply for Chicoine as grand pooba of the Hobo Day Committee and captures the spirit of Hobo Day, Chicoine said.

“It’s important to remember our roots,” Chicoine said. “(And to) build your legacy, and leave it for others as an example of what kind of legacy they can build.”

The new Bumbassadors program is one way the Committee has worked to model their legacy for others to follow. Wanting to get students involved with Hobo Day earlier, Bumbassadors were created for students interested in helping with planning and event-day assistance, as well as for greater insight to the committee.

One of Chicoine’s goals as grand pooba has been to continue improving the quality of Hobo Week events. An example is the recreation of the Great Hobo Race as Hobolympics.

“As Grand Pooba, a lot of the decisions I make are with the future in mind, and how this will better Hobo Day for the future,” Chicoine said.

Chicoine never planned to pursue the role of grand pooba when he joined the 2014 Hobo Day Committee as bands coordinator. He worked up to assistant pooba of the parade and said the decision to apply for grand pooba later was not taken lightly.

He discussed the idea heavily with friends and family. In the end, he applied and was chosen, so he decided to stick around another year for the position while finishing up his minors in agricultural business and precision agriculture.

“It was the best decision I ever made,” Chicoine said. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing committee. They’ve been working hard, and we were fortunate to be passed on great binders from my predecessors, Paul Dybedahl and Scott DesLauriers.”

DesLauriers and Dybedahl worked to create binders of checklists, contacts, procedures and more for each position on the committee to ensure more efficient planning each year.

Dybedahl, 2015 SDSU graduate, chose Chicoine as his successor to the pooba throne, and remains confident in his choice.

“One thing I’ve always noticed about Corey is he is very inclusive to everyone and has a hardworking, can-do attitude,” Dybedahl said. “Corey has a great passion for SDSU and Hobo Day … all of these things, among many others, made me confident Hobo Day was in good hands with Corey and his team.”

Scott Simons, assistant Pooba for parade, also highlighted Corey’s dedication to the committee, and making Hobo Week the best it can be for everyone.

“Corey is doing a fantastic job as Grand Pooba … he is a very passionate Jackrabbit fan who is extremely dedicated to Hobo Day,” Simons said. “He interacts with each Hobo Day Committee member individually and gets to know us well. One of Corey’s key stances is that Hobo Day is for the students and not just for the committee.”

Chicoine has positive expectations for this Hobo Day, and expressed his enthusiasm for preserving its legacy.

“Hobo Day has such a rich history. This is its 104th year and it’s one of the oldest and greatest homecoming traditions,” Chicoine said. “It’s all about being a free spirit, getting involved, meeting new people and trying new things. The tagline that best sums it up is ’Never stop wandering.’”