A small town tradition: Grad banners celebrate graduation achievements
If you're not from the small communities of Minto, Chipman, or Blackville, the large banners and flashy billboards on front lawns might catch you off guard this time of year.
And although they are similar to election signs, no one is running for office.
Grad banners are the small town method of choice for celebrating their graduates big accomplishments for completing Grade 12.
"It's our way of showing pride in our community," said Debbie Arsenault, a proud mother, whose daughter Hannah has her picture front and centre on the front lawn. "Everybody is proud. And everybody wants everybody to know who the grads are."
Hannah graduated at the top of her class at Minto Memorial High School. We know this because it's on her grad banner, written underneath her life-size graduation photo.
"It's always been the normal," said Hannah Arsenault, who will continue her education at the University of New Brunswick in the fall. "I mean, the first couple of days it's a little awkward when you're driving in and out and people are honking the horn at you."
The grad banner tradition has continued in this small pocket of New Brunswick villages for several years, with graduates knowing the brag signs are an inevitability that comes with completing the twelfth grade.
"It's a little weird, but it's kind of cool," said Cassandra Swift, who also recently graduated from Minto Memorial High. "My sister had one when she graduated, so I've been expecting it. But I didn't realize that not many other communities do it."
"I can't remember how long ago it started," said Debbie Arsenault. "People always ask us 'why do you do this?' We're just like 'you know what we've always seemed to have done it.'"
