Districts 47, 155 school bus wins "Best Use of Lights" at Crystal Lake's Festival of Lights Parade

For the past three years, bus driver Stacey Balmes has been dreaming of ways to "dress up the bus" for the Festival of Lights parade that kicks off the holiday season in downtown Crystal Lake at the end of every November.

In years past, the bus has paraded as a dragon and a sock monkey. This year, the theme was "Frozen" with the bus disguised as the hit movie's fictional character "Olaf."

The bus was accompanied by golf cart "Sven," driven by Penny Fleming, assistant director of transportation and safety, and bus drivers Haley "Elsa" Vodnansky and Morgan "Anna" Wallace, who designed their costumes from scratch! Transportation Director Kathy Anes and Superintendent Kathy Hinz walked alongside the bus handing out candy to parade-goers.

The parade entry received first place by the Downtown Crystal Lake committee for "best use of lights" and was submitted by the Transportation Joint Agreement -the shared bus service between Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 and Community High School District 155.