A fun & formal return

A GROUP OF friends and football buddies, from left, Matt Munson, Caden Johnson, Ayden Horner, Christian Wendland and Tony Nelson, ham it up before Saturday’s Spring Formal Grand March in downtown Tracy.

The pandemic erased last year’s prom from the calendar, but Tracy Area High School students this year were able to celebrate the time-honored Spring Formal tradition — with an outdoor twist

By Per Peterson

Not since the last Box Car Days celebration in 2019 has there been as much of a party-like atmosphere in downtown Tracy as there was this past Saturday.

Almost two years removed from the last Box Car Days celebration and a few months since 3rd St. was ripped up and replaced, Tracy Area High School students celebrated their Spring Formal with an outdoor Grand March on a steamy May evening this past Saturday.

In yet another chapter of how the pandemic has changed the way we all live, this year’s event was moved from the high school gym outside to the recently-redone 3rd St. A year after the annual prom was canceled because of COVID-19, parents of high school students stepped up and made the decision to move the time-honored tradition downtown.

“It was awesome,” said Marla Verlinde, parent of a TAHS senior and volunteer for this year’s Spring Formal.

See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on the Spring Formal.