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Community invited to congratulate graduates in 2021 Reverse Dry Grad Parade

“Right now it’s looking like it will be overcast, but no rain.”
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The Williams Lake 2021 Reverse Dry Grad Parade will enter from Midnight Drive, with the parade taking place on Western Avenue heading toward Carson Drive. (Image submitted)

It’s graduation week in Williams Lake.

Grade 12 students from throughout the city will be taking part in grad festivities, including Thursday, June 10, and Friday, June 11, at Lake City Secondary School’s Williams Lake Campus in the form of formal, personal grad ceremonies, due to COVID-19 regulations.

Then on Saturday, June 12, graduates from all schools will line Western Avenue for a Reverse Dry Grad Parade where the community will get a chance to drive past students to offer their congratulations.

Melanie Berg, communications for the Williams Lake Dry Grad Committee, said everyone has been keeping an eye on the weather.

“It’s switched from thunder, to rainy, to clear,” she said. “Right now it’s looking like it will be overcast, but no rain.”

The parade is slated to take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Anyone driving the parade route is asked to enter from Midnight Drive, turning onto Western Avenue, where students will be spaced out six feet apart, again, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“They’ll have tents set up, they’ll have their Spotify grad playlist going — we’re really pushing for it to be a big, block party,” Berg said. “It will be one-way traffic for the direction of the parade, so one way for the section on Western Avenue from Midnight Drive to Pigeon Avenue.”

READ MORE: 2021 Williams Lake Dry Grad Parade on city council’s agenda for this week

Parade participants will be eligible to win prizes, with runners dropping off prizes to grads throughout.

“We just want to encourage the community to come out to support the grads,” Berg said.

“We’re doing our best to make the route short, and to provide access that will help to ease the traffic. If people come to line up and notice it’s getting backed up way down Mackenzie Avenue, it’s on for two hours. Go grab a coffee and come back. We want to encourage people to not block traffic.”

The parade will not be open to foot traffic.

Other grad plans in the form of a formal luncheon at the school, meanwhile, had been called off due to current health orders.

READ MORE: Williams Lake Dry Grad Parade a go, formal luncheon called off

Berg, however, said plans are in the works for a luncheon to happen for graduates at Boston Pizza with funds collected from the Williams Lake and District Credit Union’s sponsor-a-plate fundraiser.

“If that’s happening it will be on June 22, so they can dress up and still have their grad slideshow.”


 


greg.sabatino@wltribune.com

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Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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