Elaborate wooden lawn displays in the greek neighborhood are almost finished and will be on display Friday from 8 to 10 p.m.

Lawn displays are part of many competitions the greek community participates in during Homecoming.

Not all chapters have to participate, though. Chapters are also given the option to take part in a community service activity instead.

“It just depends on the chapter’s preferences,” said Erin Curtis, president of the Panhellenic Council and senior in kinesiology and health, whose chapter decided to do community service due to the size of its lawn.

For those competing, many factors are taken into consideration.

“It’s completion between skit and building ability that gets judged on the different abilities,” said Travis Kieffer, display co-chairman and sophomore in industrial engineering

All the displays are required to follow certain rules. Teams are not allowed to use an item to represent itself, the only exceptions being grass and water.

Each team has a budget of $3,000, although teams are allowed to accept donations of props.

Teams are also required to incorporate this year’s Homecoming theme of “show your true colors” and must follow the safety requirements.

Teams get five weeks to build the displays, but the planning process begins early.

“We started planning this last May, coming up with sketches and bouncing ideas off each other,” said Creighton Stifel, Tau Kappa Epsilon lawn display co-chairman and junior in construction engineering.

This Friday, each team will perform its skit four times throughout the night. They will be judged during that time by a panel composed of faculty volunteers.

Displays have incorporated references from “The Lion King” to time travel.

“You can never guess what’s going to be out there every year,” said Jon Kempf, spirit display co-coordinator and junior in public service and administration in agriculture.

Kempf also emphasized the personal growth aspect of lawn display.

Students learn about construction and budgeting, get to be creative and gain leadership experience.

“There’s a lot of teamwork. We use everybody’s talent in different ways,” Stifel said.