The Western Kentucky University Marching Band warms up before the game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, at Western Kentucky University.(Miranda Pederson/Daily News)

People dressed in Western Kentucky University red lined the Avenue of Champions on Saturday, some tossing footballs or playing cornhole as they prepared for the main event – WKU’s homecoming game against Texas El Paso.

Steve Mason of Atlanta brought his wife and three children back to Bowling Green this weekend for homecoming celebrations.

Mason said he tries to return each year for homecoming.

“We came back just to renew friendships and see all the great things (WKU President) Dr. Gary Ransdell is doing at the university,” he said.

Mason got his first look at the Augenstein Alumni Center before heading for the homecoming game.

Mason was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and he said maintaining friendships he established in college is important to him. “I was telling my daughter that this was probably the most important period of my life,” he said.

Mason said he hopes his children, Ruthie, 12, Clare, 7, and John Michael, 2, will consider going to WKU. He and his wife, Amy-Beth, made a stop at the WKU bookstore to get the kids lots of WKU gear.

Ruthie said she hopes to attend WKU and be a Hilltopper. She said WKU is the first college campus she visited and that it is impressive.

But she’s not so impressed with the long drive to get to WKU. One year, her family traveled from Dallas just to be at the homecoming game. “Twelve hours in a car is not fun,” Ruthie said.

Mike Willis of Bowling Green said he came to homecoming festivities in part because he is celebrating the 45th anniversary of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, which he said was the first black fraternity on campus.

Willis said he enjoyed catching up with old friends over the weekend whom he hasn’t seen in many years. “It’s kind of funny because we all start talking about our grandchildren,” he said.

Willis now has six grandchildren.

He said he hoped the homecoming crowd’s enthusiasm might boost the WKU football team, especially with many older graduates coming back to town after long absences.

“Some haven’t cheered for them in 10, 15, 20 years,” Willis said.

Kim Shipley of Glasgow and her family set up folding chairs and laid out food for visitors on one of the WKU lawns.

“We like to bring lots of food and feed all the college people we know,” she said.

Shipley’s daughter and niece are both students at WKU.

Shipley has WKU football season tickets and said she has been glad to see the program improve over the years. “The football program is just getting so much better,” she said.

Shipley said she was unsure if the team can win its homecoming game, but that the cheers from a homecoming crowd would help.

“I think it will definitely give them energy,” she said.

— Follow government beat writer Katie Brandenburg on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.