THOMASVILLE — A local business owner is proving it’s never too late to show school spirit.

Jessica Jones, co-owner of Barberitos and Thomas County Central High School alumni cheerleader, invited Thomasville High School cheerleaders and Central alumni cheerleaders to paint the store’s windows Monday in preparation for Friday’s Bulldogs-Jackets showdown.

“When I was in school, almost every business had their windows painted in support of our local teams,” said Jones. “My husband (Todd) and I thought it would be fun to bring that back and have some old alumni paint this year. You’re never too old to show school spirit.”

Jones contacted some fellow Class of 1994 Central cheerleaders and called Thomasville High School to see if its cheerleaders would like to paint the other side in Bulldogs colors.

She did not ask current Central cheerleaders because the alumni wanted to paint this time, said Jones, but she does intend to ask the current cheerleaders to paint the store windows for a future game.

Alumni cheerleader Dee Gaines said a lot has changed since her high school days.

“When we were in school we had things like Thursday hot dog dinners for the football players that the cheerleaders prepared, or pep rallies, or we had spirit rallies after each game, regardless of whether we won or not,” said Gaines. “I don’t think they really do that anymore.”

THS cheerleaders were excited to receive the invitation.

“It’s good to paint pictures and signs to show how much we support our team,” said Ashlei Perkins, 17. “Whether they win or lose, we’re behind them.”

THS cheerleading coach Louann Pilcher was glad to bring her team to paint the windows.

“It’s good for school spirit,” she said. “We used to paint a lot more signs and windows when I first took over as coach. We wanted to paint more, but decided to wait and let people invite us.”

Pilcher is not sure why the amount of school spirit shown throughout the community has decreased over the years, but hoped this could be a start of a return of the old, with the community rallying for its teams.

Jones hopes seeing her restaurant’s windows painted might stir school spirit in others.

“I’d love to see the window paintings come back,” she said. “It’s exciting for the kids to see the community is backing them and we want them to be successful. Go Jackets!”

The cheerleaders are exciting about the upcoming game, too.