On Friday, Oct. 25, downtown Felton will play host to the San Lorenzo Valley High School (SLVHS) Homecoming Parade beginning at 3:45pm.
The event is the brainchild of Luke Dahlen, a Spanish teacher at the high school and student body activities director. Dahlen said there’s never been a homecoming parade quite like the one he and his team are planning—there will be floats celebrating each class heading along Highway 9 with all the homecoming candidates riding in convertible vehicles.
The idea for the parade came from an old video yearbook that SLVHS history/government teacher Ross Parmenter shows his classes each year. The clip features the SLVHS marching band performing in town, and that vision was enough to steer Dahlen toward planning a contemporary event.
“Our parade will begin on Gushee Street, go around the Felton Fire station and Felton Community Hall, then down Highway 9 past Verutti’s Liquors, Empire Grill and Rite Aid,” Dahlen said.
The concept was developed in the 2023-24 leadership class with a small group of students (Amaya Moore, Poppy Owens and Dahlen), and the group enlisted the help of Harry Berggren, who coordinates the Felton Remembers parade, which also takes place in downtown Felton.
“Berggren met with us and it was his parade checklist that helped us get started. He continues to support us whenever we reach out,” Dahlen said.
Victor Acevedo from Santa Cruz County Public Works has also been helpful in navigating this “extremely daunting process,” said Dahlen, adding that the parade would not have come to fruition without the help of architect Patricia (Trish) Pollock and Phil Doodey, a local civil engineer, both of whom have kids at SLVHS.
“Trish helped create the first Traffic Control Plan Draft, and when we needed a civil engineer’s stamp from CalTrans, Phil and his firm MME Civil and Structural Engineering got us through the home stretch to get the ever-elusive CalTrans Encroachment permit,” said Dahlen, who also praised Sgt. Troy Vincent and the Santa Cruz CHP, along with Kyle Matson and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department. “Both local law enforcement agencies will be helping with traffic control. I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot more people to thank over the next few weeks after the dust settles.”
The SLVHS JV and Varsity football teams are playing some serious Cougar football (both are 6-0) and Dahlen and his team would love to get the community out to support them at the Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 26, against Santa Cruz High School.
“That’s all we’re trying to do, is to continue to bring our community and our high school together here in the San Lorenzo Valley. This will be a perfect opportunity to do just that,” Dahlen said.
Senior parent Kate Stoelting said of the event, “I am very excited to cheer on our SLVHS students in their first homecoming parade, and I appreciate all the work Mr. Dahlen has done to make it happen for our kids and the community. It’s just so sweet that our daughter Jessica, who will be leaving for college next year, gets to represent her school in a homecoming parade with her friends. It doesn’t get any more small town America than that.”
The SLVHS Homecoming game is scheduled for 1pm on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the high school, featuring a half-time parade and the reveal of Homecoming Court following the game. For more information, visit slvathletics.org.
