SWAMPSCOTT — It’s not just final sports games, the prom, and senior celebrations the COVID-19 pandemic has robbed from high school seniors. Even the little things, like signing friends’ yearbooks, won’t get to happen.
“Even those things can’t be done. I still pull out my book and say, ‘Oh yeah, I remember that person,’” said Ana Lanzilli, whose daughter, Isabel, is a senior at Swampscott High School. “They are losing out on so much this year because of the pandemic.”
So, Lanzilli and a group of Swampscott mothers have teamed up with community group For the Love of Swampscott to have blue and white banners hanging from as many town residences and businesses as possible on the morning of Saturday, May 30.
According to Ana Lanzilli, whose daughter, Isabel, is a senior, the mothers are hoping to create a “festive” atmosphere during what should have been the start of senior week for “Big Blue” students.
Banners may be ordered by Sunday, May 10, by emailing [email protected] with your name, address for the banner, phone number, and number of banners requested. Payment may be made using Venmo to send money to @analanzilli. A printable order form is also available on the For the Love of Swampscott Facebook page, and may be dropped off to Natalie Swanstrom at 61 Prospect St. with a check.
Banners cost $35, including grommets to hang the banners and delivery, and are being made by Accurate Graphics in Lynn. No one is making a profit, Lanzilli said. Directions will be included on hanging the signs hung the night of Friday, May 29.
With the COVID-19 pandemic already having closed schools and canceled school events, Lanzilli said it wouldn’t be right to let senior week go by without any festivity.
“Our community is feeling for these kids,” Lanzilli said. “More than 150 signs have been sold, and we’re seeing amazing support.”
Lanzilli said she hopes people who don’t order banners will create their own. The goal, she said, is to “paint the town blue and white” in both Swampscott and Nahant, where students also live, who will graduate from Swampscott High School.
“It’s not going to bring back what they don’t have, but we hope it puts a smile on their faces,” Lanzilli said.
It’s not supposed to be so much of a secret, Lanzilli said, and she hopes seniors will be excited about the banners and drive around town, not just on the main thoroughfares, but on the smaller streets as well.
“I hope it looks like what we are,” Lanzilli said. “We’re Big Blue and we’re a family.”
David McLellan can be reached at [email protected].