Snow can't put any damper on Smith Clove Elementary's Halloween parades

CENTRAL VALLEY — An abbreviated school day didn’t deter Smith Clove Elementary kindergarten and first-grade students from participating in the school’s annual Halloween parades. The kindergarten parade was held almost immediately once students arrived following Monday’s two-hour delayed opening. As per tradition, costumed students marched around the blacktop playground, quickly shoveled earlier that morning in time for their arrival. Parents were invited to watch and hundreds of photos were snapped to commemorate a snow-covered parade day. Also as per tradition, the older first-graders had the privilege of marching up Smith Clove Road to the district’s Education Center on Route 32, where district officials greeted them with gifts of Halloween pencils. Parents also lined the parade route to watch their children. District Superintendent Edward Mehrhof noted the first-grade visit always puts smiles on the faces of Education Center staff, who enjoy seeing what costumed characters both student and faculty dress as. He laughed and acknowledged his costume of the day was easy to identify: A “dull and boring superintendent.” - Nancy Kriz