For the past 39 years, the Conifer area has held a Christmas parade to help bring the community together. During this festival, there is a parade in which local clubs and businesses compete for the judge’s approval. This year the theme was “heroes,” with a prize of $500.

“It helps us gain some more community outreach. We gain a lot of awareness of what we do and kind of who we are through our participation in it,”  sophomore Hannah Stauffer said. Stauffer helps on both the mechanical side of robotics and the fundraising side.

This shows how important this event is for the team and many other businesses. Showing off to potential sponsors allows the robotics team to have a better chance at fundraising, and gives them time in the spotlight to show off what they have created over the past years. 

“As part of the robotics team, I spent several hours the night before and several hours the day of at the school, putting together decorations on robots or completing building robots,” junior Oscar Yaun said.

Robots from previous years were used in the parade, but there was still so much to get prepared for. It was of utmost importance that all the robots worked, so there was a lot of testing before the parade causing many team members to work later than usual. 

“I collect cans for our can-bot which we got sponsored to make by Ball and Novellus and we’re donating all of the crushed cans to the Evergreen fire department to help them raise money for their programs,” senior Cole Gropp said.

The Christmas parade is a great way to bring the Conifer community together. Many small businesses and clubs get time to shine during the parade. With all the participants this year, next year’s parade is sure to be even more fascinating.