Glenbrook South hosts Fall Festival

Dressed as skeletons and seated among headstones in front of a float decorated as a crypt, Glenbrook South seniors Elaina Maris and Anya Gupta waved to people in passing cars during the drive-through parade at the high school's Fall Festival Saturday.

Each of the school's classes decorated floats with a Halloween theme, and people inside cars passed along a circuitous route through the parking lot near the stadium entrance to view them, in addition to various group's displays. Poms, cheerleaders, the band and a drum line added a spirited atmosphere to the parade.

Without a football game, the stadium sat strangely silent, but a cross country meet taking place in the vicinity added a bit of interscholastic activity to the surroundings.

Maris said the parade allowed students and the community to have a sense of normalcy, while still maintaining safety guidelines during the pandemic. Glenbrook South's traditional homecoming parade passes through downtown Glenview.

"I feel like the main purpose of having the regular parade is involving the community in our school's homecoming," Maris said.

Both seniors agreed that the drive-through parade gave students and chance to see families and residents of the community, and gave people a chance to have something to do on a Saturday that happened to be cool and overcast. They were also appreciative of the fact that the school was able to host the reverse parade.

"I'm just really thankful that we even have the opportunity to have some sort of normalcy, and the fact that they let us build the floats and set it up, and people are still able to interact and see it," Gupta said.

"It's just really nice because it makes it feel like everything is crazy in the world."

Mark Maranto, assistant principal for student activities at Glenbrook South, said the Fall Festival was successful, and generated excitement for students and the community.

"Our challenge was providing an experience for the community that was not homecoming, but it was in the time slot that homecoming normally is," Maranto said. "I think it was really fun for our kids to plan it and put it together."