GREENFIELD – The spirit of James Whitcomb Riley was alive and well Friday afternoon as hundreds of schoolchildren lined up with fresh flowers in hand for the annual Riley Festival Flower Parade.
The students made their way north on State Street at 12:30 p.m. on their way to the county courthouse, where they offered flowers to adorn the base of the Riley statue that commemorates the Hoosier Poet.
The flower parade has become a time-honored tradition for the Riley Festival, bringing scores of parents and grandparents out to watch the procession each year.
“I think it’s a lot of fun and exciting for the kids to be a part of the community experience,” said Brittany Meek, a third-grade teacher from Weston Elementary.
Like all Greenfield-Central third grade teachers, Meek has spent the past two weeks teaching her students about Greenfield’s most famous native son, sharing his poetry and visiting the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home & Museum in downtown Greenfield.
Eight-year-old Kryton Lopez said his favorite part of the boyhood home was “the goblin room,” an upstairs attic where kids can peek in to see what appears to be a goblin’s glowing green eyes, just as described in one of Riley’s poems.
Fellow 8-year-old Cash Eakin said he’s had fun learning more about the famous poet who is such a big part of his hometown.
“He was a very famous poet, and I guess it’s cool to remember ancient history about someone who lived a long time ago, and you get to learn about them,” said Eakin, a third-grader at Weston Elementary School.
Hudson Welch, another third-grader at Weston Elementary, agreed.
“I think he’s very big part of Greenfield, and I think his poems are really great, and I think he should be famous everywhere in Indiana,” he said.
Julie Dickey, a third-grade teacher at J.B. Stephens Elementary School, said learning about Riley has inspired her students to want to write their own poetry.
“We haven’t done it yet, but we will,” she said.
Jason Cary, assistant superintendent for the Greenfield-Central Schools, said it was great to see the popular parade taking place under sunny blue skies as members of the high school band led the procession with upbeat music.
“It’s wonderful to be a part of it. It’s just a great part of the community,” he said.
