WARWICK — To break up the unusually quiet days, the Warwick community is getting together, in their vehicles, to make some noise and wave “hello” during an “All-School Social Distancing Car-Beeping Parade.”
Teachers, students and their families are invited to join the convoy, which will start in the parking lot at Warwick Community School on Saturday, May 2, at 11 a.m. They will be joined by members of the Warwick Police and Fire departments.
Warwick Community School Instructional Assistant and parade organizer Karen Ellis was looking for a way to help the school community to connect, and saw social media posts about school staff driving through their towns beeping at their students. However, Principal Christine Mullen and Ellis agreed the widespread nature of Warwick Community School population — with students from Warwick, Orange, New Salem, Northfield and Wendell — would make a house-to-house drive-by difficult. So, Ellis instead orchestrated the “All-School Social Distancing Car-Beeping Parade.”
“The WCS staff has been working hard every day during this closure to stay connected with families through telephone and video conferencing,” Mullen said, “but this is a unique and safe way to ‘see’ each other and show our WCS pride.”
Families are asked to arrive at 10:50 a.m. As they enter the Warwick Community School parking lot, they will be asked to drive slowly and begin to wave to cars that are already lined up behind the lead police car. Once they have parked, families should be ready to then greet the other cars coming in. Everyone is to remain in their vehicles.
After everyone is lined up, a member of the Warwick Police Department will lead the parade of beeping cars around the town common and back. The Fire Department, if available, will hop onto the end of the parade.
Ellis said she hopes to see cars decorated with flowers and posters or playing music, and maybe even trucks that have been turned into small floats. While this is a school event, the rest of the community is invited to attend by joining in the parade or parking along the way to observe.
“When you see the look on everyone’s face in the cars when they see each other … it just lights you up inside,” Ellis said. “Just getting into the car with family members and going to do something fun can be a bit of a pick-me-up.”
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.