On Friday, June 12, families, residents and visitors to the town of Chappaqua gathered together to show their love and support for Horace Greeley High School’s 2020 graduating class through an early evening car parade.
While the line of cars made its way down Route 117 and King Street and Greeley Avenue, parents and guardians sat behind the wheel as their seniors stuck their heads out the window or through sunroofs to either wave back at all the well wishers or to simply absorb all of the excitement around them.
Caryn Shapiro, parent of Horace Greeley senior Lily Shapiro, said, “the car parade was a silver lining that came out of this pandemic. It was such an amazing event that brought the whole community together to celebrate our seniors who have lost the fun traditions that make the spring of senior year so special.”
According to Horace Greeley PTA Vice Chair Suzanne Lodge, the Chappaqua PTA worked together with the Chappaqua Central School District and in cooperation with the Town of New Castle and its police department to organize the parade in order to replace the traditional celebrations this year’s graduating class is missing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This led to the senior class car parade.
“We had seen other districts do the same thing but we also wanted to follow New York State guidelines, so I spoke to the New Castle Police Department and they were super supportive,” said Lodge.
Lodge managed the event and worked closely with community members, teachers, parents, seniors and the police department to ensure the car parade was well organized and successful.
Seniors and their families slowly began to roll into the Chappaqua train station parking lot around 5 p.m. Students painted the exteriors of the cars to celebrate their accomplishments.
Senior Charlotte Templeton said the car parade was “a great time and fun way to see classmates while celebrating being a senior.”
As more people filed into the parking spots, the noise level and energy built. Once the police officers leading the parade motioned for everyone to head back into their cars, the honking began.
The parade route started at the train station, weaved through town and ended at Horace Greeley High School. Throughout town, members of the community lined the streets with noise-makers, signs and cameras.
Cheers and shouts from community members combined with cars honking created a symphony that brought smiles to seniors’ faces.
When the seniors pulled into the high school, teachers greeted them by honking their horns right back at them and cheering loudly.
Lodge said the PTA advertised the parade in the town superintendent’s note of the week and in the elementary and middle school newsletters this week. The note encouraged community members to come out and cheer for the seniors while wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines.
Senior Lily Shapiro, daughter of Caryn Shapiro, said, “it was so fun to watch the whole town come together for the first time in a while, socially distanced of course, to celebrate the seniors.”
Lisa Kassin, parent of a Horace Greeley junior and college freshman, lined the parade route with her family to cheer on the seniors.
“My family had so much fun watching on Route 117 and cheering for the entire class of 2020. Seeing the smiles on the seniors’ faces while they stood through the sunroofs of their decked out cars was the best part of the parade,” said Kassin.
Before the parade Lodge said, “we are so excited to finally be celebrating these kids, they’ve worked so hard for so long and we were feeling a little disappointed they would not be having their usual accolades but I think Mother Nature agreed that they need a celebration because today is going to be a beautiful day.”
Although “Honk for Seniors” is traditionally held on the first and last days of school at Horace Greeley, this car parade may become a new way of holding the event and celebrating the seniors in the future.
“I think ‘honk for seniors’ may have been more special than ever before, and I think this would be an awesome tradition to have each year,” said Lily Shapiro.
“Aidan Canfield will be graduating from Pleasantville High School and will continue his education at Bucknell University. Bucknell is a perfect fit where he will challenge himself academically and athletically. Aidan played football and wrestled for the Pleasantville Panthers throughout high school. He was awarded “All Section” for three years, won the section title his junior and senior years and placed in the New York state competition. Aidan will wrestle for the Bisons and plans to continue his passion for playing the guitar and fishing while he is in college. Pleasantville High School has prepared him well for this new and exciting chapter in his life.”
“A lover of music since birth, Ryan enjoys songwriting, playing the guitar, piano, saxophone, ukulele and the occasional kalimba solo. He ran outdoor track and cross country for the Panther and was named “All Westchester County” in 2019. He is also passionate about the visual arts. When not filming and editing humorous YouTube and TikTok video, he can be found at Rockwood Hall photographing his friends. Ryan sang in the Razor’s Edge acapella group and appeared earlier this year as King Triton in “The Little Mermaid.” This year’s Pleasantville High School’s salutatorian, Ryan plans to attend Wesleyan University this fall.”
“To know Lauren is to love Lauren. With a zest for life, Lauren is a special girl who works tirelessly to excel academically and in sports. As a captain of her soccer team, she helped lead her team to a state championship this year. As a two-time captain for lacrosse, she has demonstrated great leadership and resilience over the last few years. In addition, as vice president of youth group, she donates much of her time to community service. More importantly, she exemplifies all that is good in a person and friends are essential to her. Lauren will play lacrosse at the College of the Holy Cross in the fall.”
“Ben has made the most of his experience at Pleasantville High School. In addition to enjoying his studies, Ben has been a member of the track team and Pioneer Sports League. He has also been actively involved with the garden club and peer to peer club. Outside of school, Ben is an avid hiker. Great friends and great memories have been made at Pleasantville High School.”
“Norah is a caring and gentle soul. She is competitive yet sympathetic. Norah is reflective and amusing. Norah is the voice of reason in our large, chaotic Irish family. Norah has always chosen to do things in life not because they are easy, but because they are hard. We love you and as you begin the next chapter of your life in Loyola, Maryland, remember “we busted out of class, had to get away from these fools…” Go Greyhounds! Congratulations Norah!”
“Meg is an amazing girl with a heart of gold. She is a hard worker, diligent, patient, funny, thoughtful, honest, quirky, compassionate, kind and optimistic. Her smile lights up a room and she has an infectious laugh. She loves music, theater and people! She is loud and excitable. Her voice can fill a room and melt your heart. She is a good friend and dependable. She is fair, true, generous and empathetic. She is someone you like to be around. The present may be on pause but the future looks bright for this senior.”
“Sean is kind and rarely complains. He is a hard worker when he cares about what he is working on. He is ‘loyal, kind and true’ to his friends and family. His favorite sports are football and lacrosse. This year, he was the captain of the Pleasantville varsity football team but what he enjoys most is playing the game of lacrosse which unfortunately could not happen this season. He will be attending Mount Saint Mary College in the fall and is looking forward to brighter days and playing on their lacrosse team. Go Pleasantville Panthers! Go MSMC Knights!”
“One of Molly’s greatest accomplishments at Pleasantville High School was to be selected to represent her school and participate in the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership program where she attended conference at Adelphi University and Loyola University in Chicago. In school, Molly was the captain of cross country and track and field. She participated in various clubs such as “Familiar Faces” and “Echo” that allowed her to be an active member of her community. Outside of school, Molly has studied acting for 13 years, and in her free time, she loves to hang out with her friends. Molly is very excited to attend Skidmore College where she plans to pursue a double major of acting and marketing.”
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