Last year was a bittersweet year for area high school seniors.  Graduation commencement exercises were cancelled throughout the region due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Having said that, I would like to congratulate all the seniors and the teachers who, while missing the traditional graduation ceremony, got real creative in making sure that the seniors' special day was, well, at least a little special.

We all saw the drive-by parades cheering on the seniors at the own homes, and we saw yard signs by the hundreds giving a shout out to seniors in almost all the communities in our tri-county listening area.  And of course social media pages were loaded with touching tributes to seniors from their families and friends.  Many of these were accompanied by pictures of each of the graduates down through their school years.

Well, it looks like things will be at least a bit more traditional for this year's class of 2021.

The governor has announced new rules and guidelines for this year's commencement ceremonies.  The new rules take take effect as of May 1. Indoor and outdoor ceremonies will be allowed with limited attendee capacity, depending on the event size and the location. Events larger than 100 people indoors or 200 people outdoors require organizers to notify the local health department and attendees need to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test result or proof of completed immunization prior to entry.

Small steps.  A start.  Lets hope this trend continues.  And...congratulations to the Class of 2021.

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