Senior banner program looks to celebrate graduates' achievements without the gathering

LORAIN — The city's seniors may not get to walk across the stage at commencement, but a councilman and group from South Lorain are making sure their accomplishment isn't forgotten. Rey Carrion, D-Ward 6, is spearheading a banner program for the class of 2020, at the behest of several south side residents. "We've had quite a few sponsors that have offered to help cover banners for those folks that might not have the financial wherewithal to do so," he said. "So this thing is really growing into something that I believe will be special for the seniors that will not have a traditional graduation and will have a memory but also I think it will be a phenomenal visual for the city to show an uplifting message." So far, they've sold about 150 banners, but a number of big-ticket sponsors are helping them provide a banner to each of the graduating seniors at Lorain High School. He said in addition to students from Lorain and Clearview High Schools, he's gotten orders for kids attending Elyria High School, Elyria Catholic, and colleges including Lorain County Community College, The Ohio State University, and University of Cincinnati. The program mirrors holiday banners that decorated Pearl Avenue last winter. With a goal of 15, Carrion and other volunteers sold more than 160 ahead of the first International Christmas. The senior banners are $100. About $60 of that goes toward the banner and hanging materials; excess funds are going to support activities in South Lorain — like the second International Christmas, slated to move to Oakwood Park this coming winter. Carrion said the plan is to have a free ice skating rink in the park throughout the holiday season, along with horse-drawn carriages, lights and other programming. "We want to bring something great to Oakwood Park and South Lorain like we had 30, 40 years ago," he said. And thanks to last year's International Christmas, the senior banners in South Lorain will get a hanging flower basket. Still in the works, Carrion said he wants to have a parade of cars throughout the city and each graduating senior recognized on a live radio broadcast. "Although they're not receiving a traditional celebration we as a community want to rally and give them our support so they can go to the next phase of their lives and they can go with energy and a resounding interest and they can continue to represent." Carrion said his goal is for volunteers to hang the banners a couple of weeks before commencement would have been, and keep them up all summer. At the end of summer, banners will be taken down by volunteers and given to the graduate and their families. Banners include the graduate's name, photo and school. The banner program will stretch primarily down Grove Avenue, from 36th Street to 28th Street, down 28th Street to Broadway and then Broadway to West Erie Avenue. They may have banners on West Erie from Broadway to Washington Avenue, he said. "We can already envision what's going to happen, it happened for the holidays," he said. "The number of people that came from out of town, and out of state and even here locally to stand by a pole and take a family picture with their family member being on the banner, it was something out of this world." For more information, or to order a senior banner, email SLbannerprogram@gmail.com and include the senior's name, photo and school. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytachg@chroniclet.com.