Lion pride was on display Saturday when an impromptu parade
celebrated the Wellsville High School Class of 2020.
Organizers said the community just wanted to show how proud
they are of the seniors who had their final year of high school shutdown by the
Coronavirus.
While graduation is still tentatively planned to take place
at the airport later this month, Saturday’s parade gave the 95 seniors a way of
letting off some pent up steam, with the help of blaring sirens and honking
horns of the firetrucks and emergency services vehicles.
The seniors rode in the backs of pick -up trucks and waved
from the tops of the back seats in convertibles, clung to the roll bars in open
topped Jeeps and stood in the open sunroofs of sedans. There were orange and
black streamers, balloons, posters of the individual seniors and noise.
Starting from and ending in the old Ames parking lot, the
parade was led off by Wellsville’s two black and orange firetrucks. Following
the arterial to State Street they passed by signs and groups of people waving
from yards and porches as they wound their way through the village streets.
Turning onto the Bolivar Road from Seneca Street they made their way past
people gathered in their yards on North Main Street to Main Street where crowds
also greeted them.
Seniors Taylor Payne and Kayla Day said the parade was
something special for them since they had missed so much of their senior year.
“We didn’t get to have senior day or the prom, senior night
or our senior trip to New York, so this is nice,” said Payne.
