{"id":154656,"date":"2026-01-07T11:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=154656"},"modified":"2026-01-07T11:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:09:24","slug":"they-came-for-college-they-stayed-for-hotty-toddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/they-came-for-college-they-stayed-for-hotty-toddy\/","title":{"rendered":"They Came for College, They Stayed for Hotty Toddy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the Siebert family, Ole Miss is more than tradition; it’s perseverance, connection and home<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What began as merely following a cousin to Ole Miss<\/strong> in the late 1960s turned into a way of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 1966, Bonnie Schoenknecht Siebert<\/strong> followed her cousin from Joliet, Illinois<\/strong>, to the\u00a0University of Mississippi<\/strong><\/a>. Transferring from Joliet Junior College<\/strong>, the nation’s oldest junior college, Bonnie graduated from Ole Miss in January 1969 with a degree in education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She returned to Joliet and almost never came back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, she began teaching and met her now-husband, Denny. They were a new couple in 1970 when Ole Miss made its eighth appearance in the Sugar Bowl<\/strong>, facing Arkansas<\/strong>. (The Rebels <\/strong>defeated the Razorbacks <\/strong>27-22.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I really wanted to go to the Sugar Bowl in 1970,” she said. “But Denny talked me into going on a ski trip instead since he owned a ski store at the time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missing the 1970 Sugar Bowl, the Rebels’ last for 46 years, became family lore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The joke was that she never forgave him until the 2016 Sugar Bowl (when Ole Miss defeated Oklahoma State<\/strong> 48-20),” daughter Sarah\u00a0Siebert<\/strong>\u00a0said. “I think she still hasn’t forgiven him for missing\u00a0that Sugar Bowl.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a 35-year hiatus, Bonnie found herself back on campus when Sarah decided to attend Ole Miss in the fall of 2004 after visiting campus a few times during high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I always would have regretted it if Sarah didn’t at least look at Ole Miss,” Bonnie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah had her heart set on the University of Iowa<\/strong> until she visited the Oxford <\/strong>campus a few times and realized she really liked it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’d always done something different from my friends in Illinois, so I came to Ole Miss,” Sarah said. “And then, my parents followed and just kind of fell in love with it, too.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mom and Dad were soon to become staples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They came to the first home football game my freshman year and just walked around,” she said. “Then the second game, they started a Grove tent right in front of Ventress Hall.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sieberts have been a tailgate fixture in front of Ventress Hall<\/strong> for more than 20 years now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They even hang a sign in their tent representing their hometown of Sherwood<\/strong>, Illinois. Passersby from that area will often stop\u00a0to visit and the Sieberts welcome them with food and familiarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I love that part about it,” Sarah said. “You’re so far away from home and it’s sometimes just nice to have a local contact if you need something.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education but was not ready to end her stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I graduated, and I was like, I’m not quite ready to leave yet,” she said. “I became a graduate assistant for the\u00a0Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0School of Education<\/strong><\/a>, and then right after graduation, accepted a job with the university.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She later earned a master’s in curriculum and instruction and a master’s in early childhood development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the family’s tailgating spot is a bona fide landmark, she has become a staple at\u00a0Willie Price Lab School<\/strong><\/a>, where she has worked since 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denny and Bonnie retired in 2008 after she taught for nearly 40 years. The couple’s retirement gift to each other was to move to Oxford and follow the Rebels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bonnie has missed only two home games since 2004, Denny has missed four, due to his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis eight years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was during this new way of life that the DePauw University<\/strong> alum began sending motivational videos to a cousin who coached football. His most notable video telling people: “Get your ass up. It’s game day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phrase brought laughs, but it also exuded the family’s mantra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s kind of like our family motto,” Sarah said. “Whatever you’re going through, you can get up and keep going.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family and friends can be seen wearing Denny’s words of wisdom on stickers and hats, which were party favors at his recent 80th birthday celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toward the end of the 2025 football season, Denny spent 17 days in the hospital, causing him to miss two Rebel home games. He recovered and did what he knew how to do: He got up. It was almost game day, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denny was released from the hospital Nov. 14, the day before the Ole Miss-Florida<\/strong> game, and was in the Grove the next morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some may call it Hotty Toddy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To me, ‘Hotty Toddy’ means: common ground. Family. Being all in. Having an ally wherever you go,” Sarah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sieberts experienced Hotty Toddy at the 2026 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans<\/strong>, where the Rebels beat Georgia 39-34. Denny and Bonnie get around with the assistance of walkers and wheelchairs, but maneuvering ADA parking and seating was worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was so surreal,” Bonnie said. “Everything happened so fast and when they kept having them come out on the field again for that one second \u2013 we couldn’t believe it that they were going to do that \u2013 but it was just the most amazing thing I’ve ever been to in my life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will also experience Hotty Toddy in Glendale, Arizona<\/strong>, at the Fiesta Bowl<\/strong>, where they will get to\u00a0visit family \u2013 family by blood as well as Rebel family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fiesta Bowl also happens to be Sarah’s birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re excited to see family and celebrate my birthday,” Sarah said. “Hopefully the Rebels give us the best birthday party ever!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Marisa C. Atkinson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Denny Siebert grills his specialty bacon-wrapped filet bites at his family’s tailgate near Ventress Hall in the Grove at the University of Mississippi. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Siebert family (from left), Bonnie, Denny and Sarah, have become staples in the Ole Miss Grove on game days. Originally from Chicagoland, they have been tailgating in front of Ventress Hall for more than 20 years. They plan to be in Glendale, Arizona, to cheer on the Rebels on Jan. 8 in the Fiesta Bowl against Miami. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Like chandeliers in Grove tents, the Siebert family \u2013 dad, Denny (left); daughter, Sarah; and mom, Bonnie \u2013 have become fixtures in Ole Miss tailgating. Sarah also is a longtime teacher at Willie Price Learning Lab. Collectively, the family has missed only four home football games since 2004, and they will travel to the Fiesta Bowl this week. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Denny Siebert\u2019s (seated) hat proudly proclaims ‘Get your ass up. It\u2019s game day!’ With his daughter, Sarah (center) and wife Bonnie, the family experiences Hotty Toddy at the 2026 Sugar Bowl. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Denny (left) and Bonnie Siebert had just started dating when the Ole Miss Rebels made it to the 1970 Sugar Bowl. While Bonnie wanted to attend and support her alma mater, Denny talked her into going on a ski trip instead. The couple has since attended the Rebels\u2019 Sugar Bowl appearances in 2019, 2022 and 2026. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tailgating in the Grove in front of Ventress Hall (blue tent at lower left) is where the Siebert family welcomes friends and family to Hotty Toddy. The family witnessed the Rebels\u2019 Sugar Bowl victory in New Orleans and are on the way to Glendale, Arizona, this week for the Fiesta Bowl. Photo by Jim Hendrix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the Siebert family, Ole Miss is more than tradition; it’s perseverance, connection and home What began as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123462,"featured_media":154658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17687],"tags":[2369,33453,26804,29056,1174,1113,33454,33455,896,5967,7067,2370,700,33456,19420,33457,7425,18257,655,13512,21518],"class_list":["post-154656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-of-mississippi","tag-arkansas","tag-bonnie-schoenknecht-siebert","tag-center-for-excellence-in-literacy-instruction","tag-depauw-university","tag-florida","tag-illinois","tag-joliet","tag-joliet-junior-college","tag-new-orleans","tag-oklahoma-state","tag-ole-miss","tag-razorbacks","tag-rebels","tag-sarah-siebert","tag-school-of-education","tag-sherwood","tag-sugar-bowl","tag-university-of-iowa","tag-university-of-mississippi","tag-ventress-hall","tag-willie-price-lab-school"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Siebert-family-1.jpg?fit=2048%2C2048&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154663,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154656\/revisions\/154663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}