When Sanborn Central senior Cooper Goldammer decided to continue the Parade of Lights tradition that Brady Larson started last year as his senior project, he had no idea the attention it would get. From a feature story in the Mitchell Republic newspaper to a story on KELOLand TV news, the event was noticed all over the eastern side of the state, and, with social media coverage, quite possibly beyond the South Dakota borders. 

Goldammer said that he decided to do this project because he thought it was a great thing for the community of Letcher, and he is hoping it will continue as a tradition. This year’s parade drew 34 entries, which is pretty steady with the numbers from last year, so it appears the interest is going to continue. Goldammer stated, “I think it was a great success because it grew from last year, and we had more floats. Hopefully someone continues it on and keeps it growing.”

One way the event grew is with participation from the Town and Kountry Kids 4-H Blue group. They setup a s’mores stand and collected food and monetary donations for the Sanborn County Food Pantry. Plans are to make the nicely sized donation to the pantry this Thursday to help with getting food to people through Christmas and the winter months. Make sure to keep an eye out for the presentation in next week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal.

After the parade, the Letcher Hawks Teener Baseball team served a baked potato/nacho bar in the Letcher Community Center. With everyone from the community of Letcher and many from the surrounding area taking part in this festive Christmas season event, it seems perfectly fitting for Goldammer to name the event “A Hometown Holiday.”

…See many pictures from the parade in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!