If the colorful signs around campus trying to sway your vote for king and queen didn’t tip you off, maybe the talk of bars opening before breakfast and all-day parties clued you in that UW-Eau Claire Homecoming is this weekend.

As the Blugolds take on the UW-River Falls Falcons in the Homecoming football game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Carson Park, some students will remain on and around Water Street socializing rather than watching the game.

Those who do go to the game likely will visit Water Street prior to it, if not for the drink specials, for the parade, which begins at 10 a.m. And, more likely than not, many will return after the game.

The Eau Claire Police Department realizes Water Street will be overflowing with more people than usual, many with alcohol in their systems, and is taking special precautions.

“We want everybody to have fun, and by having fun that doesn’t mean everybody being intoxicated,” Eau Claire police officer Jason Ruppert said.

Eau Claire police officials, Water Street bar owners, university representatives and city officials met at the end of September to discuss ways to prevent students from being rowdy or behaving inappropriately during the Saturday morning parade.

One of the meeting’s goals was to discuss ways to curb binge drinking before and during the parade because it can cause students to act inappropriately, Ruppert said. Such inappropriate behavior is a bad representation of students for the community members and children who attend the parade, he said.

Senior Danielle Schulta said she plans to attend the parade and will probably drink beforehand.

“I can see the community members’ position on (requesting students not to drink before the parade),” Schulta said, “but I think they have to remember that Homecoming is for the present and past students of Eau Claire.”

The people who attended the meeting decided that next year they may look into having the bars open only after the parade. Another possibility is if the bars do open in the morning, they could only offer soda or coffee until the parade is over, Ruppert said.

Police plan to keep this year’s Homecoming focus on keeping students under control and obeying city ordinances.

“Our main objective, really, is to make sure a few people don’t ruin it for everybody,” Ruppert said.

Friday night four officers will patrol Water Street on foot to watch for disorderly activity, including fights, criminal damage and open containers.

There will also be two patrol cars in the Water Street area to stop at house parties and talk with the residents.

“We like to make contact with the house parties before they get out of hand,” Ruppert said. “That way the people are advised ahead of time of what they can and cannot do.”

On Saturday the city police will have four squad cars for the Water Street area and six officers walking on the street to monitor the bars, with about eight additional officers for the parade and football game. That does not include the regular officers on duty, which is usually about 10 to 15, Ruppert said.

Students should remember, he said, that they are not allowed to have open containers once they step off their property. Ruppert said he and his police partner wrote about 30 citations for under-agers with open containers at last year’s Homecoming.

“We’ve just got to start being more enforcement-oriented,” Ruppert said, “so the students recognize that they can expect a citation if they’re going to be doing this type of activity.”