GREENFIELD — A sea of students filled the streets for the annual Riley Festival Parade of Flowers shortly after noon Friday.
Roughly 350 third graders from all four Greenfield-Central elementary schools were joined by fourth graders from Southern Hancock County schools to take part in the time-honored downtown Greenfield tradition, which dates back generations.
Seventeen-year-old Zachary VanDyke cherishes his memories of taking part in the parade as a kid.
“It was such a big deal to get out of school and come down to place the flowers at the courthouse,” said VanDyke, who returned to this year’s parade as a tuba player with the Greenfield-Central High School marching band.
The band led the way for the younger students, who came bearing flowers to place at the base of the James Whitcomb Riley statue in front of the Hancock County Courthouse. There, they handed the flowers over to the members of the Riley Festival queen’s court and Greenfield’s mayor, Chuck Fewell, who in turn passed them on to volunteers who stuffed the stems into wire mesh at the base of the statue.
By the time the last student passed through, the base was covered with a colorful tapestry of blooms which will stay in place throughout the four-day fall festival.
It was a bittersweet moment for Fewell, who will end his 10-year reign as the city’s mayor at the end of this year.
“The flower parade has always been a very special part of the Riley Festival,” Fewell said Friday as the sound of the marching band drew near.
The outgoing mayor promised sunny blue skies for Friday’s flower parade during the rain-soaked opening ceremonies Thursday afternoon.
His forecast came to fruition as those gathered Friday enjoyed sunny blue skies as the marching band led the way to the courthouse, marching between the booths lined up along Main and State streets.
Festivalgoers and proud parents and grandparents lined the streets to watch the procession go by.
Matt Best took a half day off from work on the north side of Indianapolis to make it home in time to see his daughter, 8-year-old Izzy, march down the street clutching a carnation in her hand.
“I remember coming to the Riley Festival when I was a little kid,” said Best, who grew up in Shelby County but joined his grandmother at the Riley Festival each year while growing up.
“She always had to have an elephant ear, every year,” he recalled with a smile.
On Friday, more of those magical memories were cemented in time as students, families and festivalgoers reveled in the tradition of young ones with flowers in their hands celebrating the Riley Festival.
While the festival is estimated to bring between 65,000 to 70,00 visitors each year, locals attest that it holds a special place in the hearts of those who call Hancock County home.
“I’m excited about being in the parade for the first time,” said 9-year-old Liam Caruthers as he clutched a red carnation while waiting for the procession to begin.
Caruthers is among the fourth-graders at Brandywine Elementary School in New Palestine who have been studying Riley’s poems in class. Last week, Liam made a drawing of a sunset based on Riley’s poem, “A Summer Afternoon.”
“I like his poems,” said Caruthers. “I like how he plugs words together. It sounds really cool,” he said.
This was the first year since COVID struck in 2020 that a school system outside Greenfield has participated in the parade.
“Each year all Hancock County schools are invited to attend, but it doesn’t always work out due to scheduling and logistics,” said Dan Jack, director of human resources for the Greenfield-Central Schools.
Liam’s teacher, Casey Johnson, was thankful for the chance to accompany her students to the parade this year.
“They’re so excited to be here, and so are we,” she said as she clutched a bucket of red carnations to her chest.
