The annual South Lakes Homecoming parade is an event that is looked forward to every year. Many clubs and activities participate in the parade, and even the feeder elementary schools participate. This parade is an opener for the highly anticipated Homecoming football game and helped hype everyone up for the upcoming game.
The parade took place on September 29 and started at Hunters Woods shopping center at 4:55, although everyone gets there early to begin setting up their floats. Floats also throw out candy to the onlookers on the side of the street. They walk from the shopping center to the stadium side of the school, where everyone is getting ready for the game.
Some of the participants in the club include the South Lakes feeder elementary schools, which are Dogwood, Forest Edge, Fox Mill, Hunters Woods, Lake Anne, Terraset, and Langston Hughes Middle School. The parade is also used to promote and raise interest in the different clubs and sports provided at South Lakes for future Seahawks.
When reaching the school, the floats are greeted with more viewers and the school has assorted necessities such as food trucks, small games, face paint, and a stand for spirit wear.
Katie Bagley, a 9th grader, participated in the Class Council for 2027 float. “My favorite part was probably handing out candy to all of the kids watching and definitely cheering and overall having fun,” said Bagley when asked about her favorite part of the parade.
When asked about her opinion on this year’s parade, senior Emmalina Sjapeki said “I think this year’s parade was special because we had a lot of positive participation. Sometimes the parade can be a little chaotic, it could slow down or there’s a bad order or something goes wrong. This year, everything went pretty smoothly.” Sjapeki is a part of the South Lakes Leadership team, and helped organize the parade this year. She also said that there were 58 groups who participated in the procession this year. Her favorite part? “I like riding on the floats. I liked being on the class council float, I found that the most fun… I thought everything up to that point was fun but stressful.”
The annual parade has seemed to have been a success to the people participating in it as well as the onlookers of this parade. There were many fun floats and activities for everyone who attended. The parade proved to be a great opener and hyped up the Homecoming football game later that evening.
