Here’s how you throw a tailgate party.

Start by grilling 150 pounds of hamburger meat and 400 hotdogs. Load up with bags of chips and bring in Hickman Mills alum Robert Goulden and his Jungle Juice Smoothie Bar.

Play a lot of music, get families dancing and put out games of ping pong, cup stacking, football and outdoor chess.

Then bring out the 60 students of LINC’s Mighty Wild Eagles Drill Team and Drum Line to drive the beat as Ruskin High School’s football team runs out onto the field through two lines of cheering LINC family and friends , who release 400 balloons of blue, silver and gold into the deepening Friday night sky.

Put it all together and you have a grand celebration of Hickman Mills and all the families and partners who join with LINC and the school district in helping build community.

Click on the images below to enlarge each picture.