Bellaire community to celebrate graduating seniors with procession through town

Graduation commencement ceremonies may be outright cancelled, or conducted virtually, but the Bellaire community is doing what it can to celebrate its graduating high school seniors.

Helped organized by Bellaire resident Deborah Roylance, who serves on Bellaire’s Culture and Arts Board, and with assistance from the city of Bellaire, the first annual Bellaire High School Graduation Celebration Drive is coming May 29.

Starting at 6:15 p.m. in front of Bellaire’s City Hall, graduating seniors will lineup with their vehicles in a parade-like configuration. The procession will start at 7 p.m. and head south on South Rice Avenue, before turning west on Maple Street, north on Ferris Street, then east onto Jessamine Street. The route will also be marked with repositioned Rotary Club American flags that had been used to decorate around the city for Memorial Day, Roylance said.

“We’re excited about this inaugural event,” Roylance said. “I think it might end up being something we do on an annual basis.”

Both public and private school high school seniors in the Bellaire area are eligible to register for the drive, Roylance said, though only more than a dozen have signed up so far.

“Things have changed so much for them this year,” Roylance said. “You just have to find a way to create something exciting, and celebrating this milestone is something Bellaire is all about.”

Part of the celebration includes a car-decorating contest, in which seniors will decorate their cars according to the colleges they will be attending. The top three will receives prizes offered by Chik-fil-A and Bellaire restaurant The ‘401.

The city of Bellaire’s high-water rescue vehicle will lead the procession, with Bellaire’s motorcycle police riding alongside them, with H-E-B tailing the procession with its mascot riding in a convertible.

Residents are encouraged to greet the procession and celebrate the graduating seniors alongside the participants.