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Dobbins Elementary students parade in costume
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.A young boy dressed up as a UPS truck during the Dobbins Elementary Halloween Parade. His costume included a UPS cap and working headlights.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Dobbins Elementary School students and teachers lined up for the start of the annual Halloween Parade at the high school football stadium.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Three children ran across the football stadium turf before the start of the Dobbins Elementary School Halloween Parade.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Dobbins Elementary students and teachers walked across the street from the school to the football stadium for the Halloween Parade.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.A large crowd of parents and other relatives gathered at the high school football stadium for the Dobbins Elementary Halloween Parade.
By TIM CLEVELAND
As it has for the last several years, Dobbins Elementary School students got a chance to show off their costumes on Oct. 31, as the vast majority of the school’s 217 students in grades kindergarten through fourth grade participated in a Halloween parade before their families, taking a lap around the high school football stadium’s track.
The students got a chance to have a dry run in their costumes a little more than 24 hours before Poland’s trick or treat night.
The school’s teachers also dressed up in costume as they have done every year of the parade, this year doing a holiday theme in which they dressed up in costumes tied to various holidays.
“We did a holiday theme,” said Dobbins Principal Michael Daley, who dressed as a leprechaun in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. “Every year Dobbins teachers have decided to go with a theme and this year they told me it was holidays. It took some time to decided what I wanted to do or how I wanted to do it.
“[The parade is] a way for families to enjoy their children. It’s a great day.”
Family members of the school’s students were greeted by the sounds of moans, groans and other spooky noises coming from the stadium’s PA system. A large amount of them attended, nearly filling the stadium’s parking lot.
The children and teachers crossed the street from Dobbins to the stadium, keeping organized by class.
“I tried to provide an opportunity for all parents to see their children, the best view possible for them to stop and pause and take a few pictures so they can have those memories forever,” Daley said.
Daley said there were many creative costumes put together by the parents and children.
“Our kids and our parents are really creative,” he said. “There’s a lot of different of varieties, from the young kindergarten students all the way to fourth grade, where they get a little more into the traditional Halloween, spooky, scary costumes.”
Daley said the parade was a good way to bring families closer together, as well as show off the tightness of the Poland community.
“I just think we’re very fortunate, always have been, to have parents in the community who support its kids,” he said. “This just isn’t parents; they are grandparents here, aunts, uncles, cousins. I think they just enjoy being with their family. Any time a school can encourage that, it’s a win-win for everyone.”