STEPHEN RICCIO
SHAWVILLE June 19 2020
Pontiac High School graduates paraded through the streets of Shawville on June 19, as they sat in various trucks and luxury cars while . . .
family and friends cheered them on.
The Friday evening celebration started on rue John Dale before looping around through the town and ending at the Shawville Fairgrounds. From there Principal Debra Stephens delivered a speech from a raised fire truck lift and an aerial photo was taken of the 2020 graduating class.
Rilen Richardson is one of the students who just graduated, and he was excited to see how things turned out given how the last few months of the school year ended with COVID-19.
“There’s a lot of kids I haven’t seen since March, so it’s really nice to see everyone,” Richardson said as he sat waiting in the truck for Stephens speech. “Considering everything that’s going on, it was good, it was very nice.”
Richardson joked about the heat, but said it was worth it to see everyone dressed up in formal attire for the special day.
“I think it went great,” Stephens said before she got up in the fire truck. “They [the graduates] seem very happy.”
During her speech, Stephens said that the school is still planning on hosting a graduation ceremony in November if all things go well. She also thanked all the people who helped organize the event, acknowledging that it seemed like a crazy idea not too long ago.
She closed with words of encouragement for the class amid unpredictable times.
“Life is messy, this year is a prime example. We go along and we make plans, sometimes they work but sometimes they don’t. So, when that happens, we have a choice. We can’t always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond to what happens to us.”
All in all, the parade started at around 6 p.m. before wrapping up at 9 p.m., with graduates, family and friends then all taking the party elsewhere to celebrate the class of 2020.
