connection she felt to the ….

connection she felt to the community of Loyal and reached out to the village to see if there was an interest in having banners created for its 69 seniors.

“We did the same thing for Spencer,” she said. “I know just as many Spencer seniors as Loyal ones.”

“She approached the village and asked if we would be interested in doing this,” said Spencer village clerk Paul Hensch. “We were delighted to help. It’s nice, we wanted to do something for the kids.”

For the Spencer banners, Bauer said they contacted another local business, Miller Graphics, to create them. Especially during this time, she said supporting small businesses is important.

“My husband and I have small businesses,” she said. “To help small businesses is important to us.”

Beyond supporting the community, Bauer said it was just something she felt they had to do.

“My heart breaks for them (the seniors), I feel bad for them,” she said. “Graduation was a huge milestone for me, I remember being a senior and graduating from high school and being at that point. They have missed out on a lot of their senior year.”

Loyal School District administrator Chris Lindner agreed.

“I would like to thank Tracy Bauer and all the donors,” he said. “I think the banners look awesome. I like the size of the pictures, you can see the students’ faces. For what our seniors have gone through, I think it’s something that’s a great thing for our community to do to show appreciation for our seniors.” The banners for the local seniors are expected to remain up until after graduations are possibly held later in the summer. The banners will then be taken down and given to each student as a memento to the community’s support of them during this time.

Banners for Loyal’s Class of 2020 members line the sidewalk in front of the high school this week.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTO