By JORIE MEIL- November 17th marked this year’s It’s a Wonderful Life parade. Students from IHS as well as members of the community marched down Philadelphia street dawned in red and green to get the town into the Christmas spirit.
The It’s a Wonderful Life festival is an annual tradition in Indiana. The festival starts with a parade and continues for five weeks with various activities. This year’s parade was bigger than ever. Sixty-eight units made up this year’s parade that spanned from 11th street to 5th street. Different businesses, groups, and organizations had floats or participants in the parade. Among these participants were many IHS students.
Many IHS students were included in the parade celebrations. The IHS Key Club did their part for the parade by volunteering. Key Club members performed various helpful jobs to help make the night run smoothly.
The IHS marching band also participated in this year’s parade. Students in the band marched down Philadelphia street playing Christmas classics to get the town in the holiday mood. The band played songs like Hark the Herald Angel sing and other Christmas songs. Each band member dressed in their own personal festive holiday attire to show their Christmas spirit. “I love music, so being in marching band has been amazing, and the parades were a lot of fun,” said sophomore Grace Wadding.
Many IHS dancers took part in the parade. The Sue Hewitt dance studio dressed as elves and danced down Philadelphia street to Jingle bells. Many IHS students were among the red and green fleet of dancing elves. Sophomore dancer Alyssa McLaine says, “The best part of the parade is dancing with all of my friends that are just as passionate about dance as I am.” The upbeat jazz dance was a crowd favorite this year.
IHS dancers from Sharon’s School of Dance also participated in the parade. The dancers from Sharon’s danced to Lady Antebellum’s version of Holly Jolly Christmas. The dancers in SSD wore Rockette Santa costumes, and the others wore Sharon’s jackets and Santa hats to show their Christmas spirit. The jazz dance was loved by dancers and parade members alike. Freshman dancer Alexis Single expressed her love of the parade, “I like just being able to be with my friends while dancing in the parade.”
Once again, many IHS students participated in this years It’s a Wonderful life parade and helped to spread holiday cheer to the community.
[Photo by Jorie Meil]
Photo caption: Sue Hewitt Dance studio dancers Alyssa Mclaine, Lauren Berzansky, and Taylor Lang have fun dancing in the parade with their friends
