Arlee celebrates community with a two-hour parade
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Emergency responders joined the parade of teachers to celebrate students and community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Teachers put messages on their vehicles for students to read during the parade.
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Arlee teacher Susan Carney and Arlee High School Secretary Valerie Espinoza get ready for the parade.
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The lights may not be on inside Arlee’s buildings, but the Light Up Arlee event on Wednesday night sent a bright spark of hope and a sense of togetherness through the community.
Arlee Schools staff and faculty, along with several law enforcement and EMS vehicles, made up a parade containing 50 vehicles. Principal Jim Taylor designed a route that took the parade through the town of Arlee, homesites, and around the eastern loop of town.
Staff members held signs saying “we miss you” and called out from their vehicles. At nearly every house, driveway and intersection, community members, including students and their families, met them with signs and messages of their own. The parade took five minutes to pass by any single location, and the whole route lasted nearly two hours.
After the parade, Tim and Lonnie Morin hiked to the A on the western hillside and used flares to light it. Simultaneously, a massive fireworks display was launched over the school itself, courtesy of the Clinkenbeard family. The display lasted about 10 minutes. All around the town, cheers went up, and by 9:15 p.m., folks were heading home.
Superintendent Jim Baldwin, who is retiring this year, wrote in a Thursday email to staff, “I have observed a great deal over the past 44 years, and 26 years as a superintendent, but this was by far at the top of my list.“
Some teachers were emotional. Fifth grade teacher Marisa Crerar said, “I cried through [the parade]. I even had a kiddo make a custom sign for me. That’s pretty much when I lost it.”
Community member Kristine Brant wrote on the school’s Facebook page, “That was such a fun evening ... thank you for lifting everyone’s spirits and showing us how amazing our community is.”
