By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

One of the best things about the Berthoud is the way in which the community comes together in difficult times. There have been countless examples both large and small throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, cancellations and postponements.

One of the groups most badly affected by the upheaval has been the Berthoud High School (BHS) class of 2020. This year’s senior class has been forced to forgo their final months of school and the associated kinship and camaraderie that goes with it, their prom, their final season of their sports and other extra-curricular activities and will face at least a postponement, if not an outright cancellation, of their graduation activities.

While is impossible to replace these activities, the Berthoud community has stood up and been supporting this year’s soon-to-be graduates in a number of ways. Below is some information about the goings on for the class of 2020 and ways interested members of the community can help.

This Saturday, May 23 at 10 a.m., will be a parade for the class of 2020. The plan has come together largely through a volunteer effort and similar plans are being made parades in Loveland for their three high schools.

Berthoud’s route will take the parade past all four the schools in town after beginning at Brookside Gardens on the eastern edge of town. The route travels west down Mountain Ave, heads north on Fourth Street to Bunyan Ave to pass by Berthoud Elementary before turning south on Seventh Street to pass Turner Middle School. The route then moves west, loops around Fickel Park before turning south again down Fifth Street. The parade will pass by Ivy Stockwell, turn west on Spartan Ave and terminate at BHS. The parade will be led by Larimer County Sherriff’s including Deputy Vince Mosely, who serves as the School Resource Officer at BHS.

The parade is a large-scale show of support for the class of 2020 but it is far from the only action the community has put together for the seniors. All along Mountain Ave and throughout town there are congratulatory banners and maroon and white ribbons attached as a show of support. Yard signs were passed out and are prominently displayed in front yards of the homes of the class of 2020.  

For the five BHS sports teams who had their seasons cancelled due to the lockdown orders, a handful of local businesses who also serve as sponsors for the BHS Booster Club, have been displaying the senior athlete’s large banners in their store fronts.

Typically, these banners are displayed in the BHS gym or on the fences or other outdoor structures around the baseball, football and soccer fields and tennis courts. With no games, meets or matches to be had, Mi Cocina is displaying the girl soccer banners, Kofe House has girls tennis, Bradford Grub and Grog has the baseball seniors banners displayed, the girls golf team has their banners on the front window of Conehead Ice Cream and the track and field seniors are displayed on the window of the open space next to Snap Fitness.

Also showing support for the BHS student-athletes is Berthoud Sports Hall of Fame which had decided to cancel the awards banquet and class of 2020 induction ceremony elected to continue the tradition of awarding scholarships to standout BHS senior athletes. The group’s sponsors, which include the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor, Overtime Sports Net, Jose Cabrera with Edward Jones and 5030 Local, funded eight scholarship awards including the Hall of Fame’s male and female athlete of the year awards. The recipients will be notified individually next week with a community-wide announcement in this publication on May 28.

Lastly, a district-wide effort on Facebook is currently on-going called “adopt a senior.” This is a fun effort where anyone in the community can choose to “adopt” one of members of the class of 2020 by mailing a care package of gift cards, snacks or really any kind of merchandize. The seniors and their families then post thank you notes to the adopter(s) with photos of the soon-to-be-graduate enjoying their gift basket.

While it is impossible to replicate the final few months of high school memories, the community has unquestionably brought smiles to the faces of our future generation of leaders.