Whats not to like about a grad parade?
The grads like it and the public likes it too. The COVID-19 pandemic has had several unforeseen positive impacts and one is without a doubt the graduate parade. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content  Not being able to have family and close friends watch students culminate 12 years of school has forced planners to think outside of the box and so the grad parade was born. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser. Back to video  If the public cant go to the grads, the grads can come to them at the very least and in a non-virus spreading way. Watching the graduates, it is clear that they certainly enjoy their moment in the sun, driving around town on floats, on motorbikes, in wagons pulled by teams of heavy horses. In Melfort, the parade is done in reverse, with the graduates stationed at the side of the street and the public driving by them, also a very popular thing. Some communities walk the graduates down the street without vehicles but the end result is the same; the entire community gets to join in the celebration if they choose. This is something that should become an annual tradition, pandemic or no pandemic. Even in a normal year, attendance at events can limited by fire codes and building capacity. The students spent 12 years getting to this point in time and its something the community certainly seems to appreciate as well. Signs with the graduates name and photo are also now a thing and in Tisdale, they are placed along a boulevard on the busiest street in town for several days. The whole town knows who graduated. Again, a good thing. So to the Class of 2021, congratulations and best of luck in the future and to the upcoming classes, I hope to see you in your own parade in years coming up.