Burrell School District parents received approval from Lower Burrell Council this week to hold a senior parade down a section of Leechburg Road in early June.

The parade is scheduled for Sunday, June 6 at 4 p.m., featuring the senior students in cars, fire trucks and more. The rain date is Wednesday, June 9 at 6 p.m.

The parade route will begin in the City Hall, Bethel Street area and end near Mogie’s Pub at Leechburg and Wildlife Lodge roads.

In addition to the senior cars, the parade will also feature local fire companies and others.

Leechburg Road will be closed for the half-hour to hour-long parade, according to Brittne Vickers, who is one of the parade’s organizers and the mother of a graduating Burrell senior.

At least 75 cars are expected; there are about 150 seniors.

A handful of Burrell School District parents have been sponsoring events to try to make up for cancelled large group events at the district this school year because of covid-19 restrictions.

They held homecoming at a New Kensington hotel and are planning to hold the senior prom at Lingrow Farm in Gilpin.

Last summer, Burrell parent Laura Fisher organized the first-ever senior student car parade in the city to provide an alternative public celebration for the students without official district participation.

“Covid has forced us to step in for our kids,” said Vickers, of Lower Burrell.

“We thought last year’s parade was awesome and we wanted to continue that tradition — covid or no covid,” she said. “It’s phenomenal for people in the district and the city to recognize the seniors.”

Superintendent Shannon Wagner had no comment on the event, which the district is not involved in.

Lower Burrell Mayor John Andrejcik said: “With everything that this year’s senior class has had to endure, missing out on many, many normal activities, events, etc. because of the pandemic, this is yet another one of those feel-good events to highlight the seniors, who really deserve it.”

Companies sponsoring the parade include Mogie’s; Perfection Painting and Design; and Nicole Ziccarelli, Republican candidate for Westmoreland County district attorney.

The event will follow CDC guidelines, Vickers said. Students will be in cars and with both lanes of Leechburg Road closed. Spectators can watch from both sides of the road and be socially distanced, she said.

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