MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Sisters, Saturday’s Halloween Parade was beautiful. For about four minutes.
At 10:00 a.m., Capstone’s students lined up on Cougar Crest Drive in fully approved Neutral costumes. Oat superheroes. Cream princesses. Sage witches. A beige shark who is also a doctor. Margaux cried. Our photographer got the group shot from the ladder. We have it. It’s being framed.
At 10:04, somewhere near the flagpole, the first oat cape came off.
Underneath it was a red cape. Underneath a kindergartner’s oat dinosaur was a green dinosaur. Underneath a cream princess was a purple princess with a light-up crown, which is on the Not Approved list for a reason. Within one block, the entire student body had peeled off a layer, and the parade was, and there is no gentle way to say this, extremely colorful.
The oat layers were left on the lawn in a neat pile. That part we appreciated.
We have spoken with several families. Every one of them said their child “insisted on wearing it underneath, just in case.” Every one of them seemed fine with it, which is something we’ll be discussing at the next meeting.
The Fire Truck
As planned, Becca’s son came as a bright red fire truck and was placed at the back of the photo. When the oat came off, the rest of the parade turned around, saw the fire truck and decided it should lead. So it led.
The fire truck had a siren. Siren sounds were on the Not Approved list. The entire parade made siren sounds for the remaining six blocks.
Becca walked next to him the whole route holding a coffee and did not say anything to us. Later she sent the group chat a thumbs-up. We love how much this meant to her.
Our Staff
Mr. Segewick brought Doug the goat to the end of the route in a little pen made of hay bales (real hay, not steam-cleaned) so the children could say hi. We did not ask Doug to wear oat, out of respect for Mr. Segewick, who said, “He’s a goat.”
Coach Tyler ran the whole route alongside the kids dressed as a banana. Nobody asked Coach Tyler to change.
Dr. Cathy told the children it was the best parade she had seen in twenty years. Then she went to sit in her car.
UPDATE: We have found out how it happened. The second graders organized it at recess. The plan had a name, and the name was “Operation Underneath.” Mrs. Hollis says she had no idea, and that she would very much like to know where the second graders found that many red markers, because her classroom doesn’t have any.