{"id":52544,"date":"2021-06-25T17:13:22","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T21:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=52544"},"modified":"2021-12-08T07:43:04","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T12:43:04","slug":"liverpool-turns-out-to-celebrate-lrhs-class-of-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/liverpool-turns-out-to-celebrate-lrhs-class-of-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool turns out to celebrate LRHS class of 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

A jubilant mood outside Queens Place as proud parents, grandparents and members of the community gathered to celebrate the 2021 Liverpool Regional High School graduates.<\/p>\n

For the second year in a row, the LRHS community had to find another way to acknowledge graduates as pandemic restrictions have forced the cancellation of traditional proms, safe grads and public graduation ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Deborah Raddall says she and her fellow organizers simply followed the plan parents laid out last year.<\/p>\n

Students were permitted to be seated six feet apart in front of Queens Place while their loved ones drove past to acknowledge their accomplishments.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Deborah Raddall looks on as the community rolls by in a drive-thru graduation celebration. Photo by Ed Halverson<\/p><\/div>\n

Raddall says after her group bombed public health with letters asking for permission to hold the event, Nova Scotia\u2019s Chief Medical Officer of health Dr. Robert Strang not only endorsed the plan during one of his COVID-19 updates, he encouraged other schools to \u2018steal\u2019 it and adapt it for their own graduations.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a simple concept,\u201d said Raddall. \u201cWe didn\u2019t ask for more than they were prepared to give and I think that\u2019s really why we got the okay. It was a reasonable, well, thought-out plan, safety was the primary thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graduate Jamie Dunn is one of many students who appreciates the efforts so many put in to give them a public celebration.<\/p>\n

\"LRHS

LRHS Graduate Jamie Dunn. Photo by Ed Halverson<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nice that we have classmates with really caring parents that could organize this for us,\u201d said Dunn. \u201cI\u2019m really grateful that everyone is here tonight, together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parent Todd Wilms was on hand to cheer on his daughter Piper. He was glad to see so many people come out to celebrate the graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the epitome of a small community getting together, despite the circumstances here now with the pandemic. Wonderful,\u201d said Wilms.<\/p>\n

The excitement of the evening was tempered for some. Graduate Chris Bowers says he appreciates the effort but is a bit disappointed the pandemic has prevented students celebrating the end of their time together in a more traditional way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as exciting as I thought it would be but it\u2019s better than nothing,\u201d said Bowers.<\/p>\n

\"LRHS

LRHS Graduate Chris Bowers. Photo by Ed Halverson<\/p><\/div>\n

When asked what he was hoping for, Bowers responded, \u201cmore together, more than just an hour with everyone. Safe grad is what I\u2019m going to miss the most, not having that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteers from Queens County Search and Rescue directed traffic as car after car, loaded with supporters, circled Queens Place several times, honking horns, waving signs and blowing bubbles.<\/p>\n

Raddall\u2019s daughter Ellen is among the 2021 graduating class. She was impressed with the turnout from the community and the resilience shown by her fellow graduates.<\/p>\n

\"LRHS

LRHS Graduate Ellen Raddall. Photo by Ed Halverson<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so incredible to see so many people out here today and seeing people who have driven from Bridgewater, like our teachers, just to come and celebrate us. It kind of makes up for the lack of grad we get because of COVID. It really didn\u2019t crack our spirit at all,\u201d said Raddall.<\/p>\n

Ellen\u2019s mom Deborah says the support from the community and the turnout really made all the effort worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more than I envisioned. It\u2019s so exciting. I\u2019m trying to hold myself together from having lots of tears, you know, momma tears but it\u2019s excellent,\u201d said Raddall. \u201cThe kids are all excited. We\u2019re across the parking lot and you can see them grinning from ear-to ear.\u201d<\/p>\n

E-mail:\u00a0edhalversonnews@gmail.com<\/a><\/strong>
\nTwitter: @edwardhalverson<\/strong><\/p>\n

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A jubilant mood outside Queens Place as proud parents, grandparents and members of the community gathered to celebrate the 2021 Liverpool Regional High School graduates. For the second year in a row, the LRHS community had to find another way to acknowledge graduates as pandemic restrictions have forced the cancellation of traditional proms, safe grads…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":52560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,218,221],"tags":[284,924,458,8089,3169,7199],"radio":[9850],"origine":[274,279,278],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52544"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=52544"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=52544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}