Fire trucks, wearing royal blue and silver, led the first-ever Fountain Hills High School Homecoming parade and circled students around the Avenue of the Fountains as the marching band’s precise harmonies  poured over the few hundred residents cheering students on from the sidewalk last Thursday night.

The floats were bigger than the ones that donned prior celebrations at the high school football field, and students were proud. It was the first time the heart of the town connected the community and high school Falcons in a celebration of Fountain Hills’ pride.

“It was a unifying step for the entire community,” Superintendent Dr. Bill Myhr said.

School pride was seen not only in the class colors students chose to wear but reflected on their faces and in their hard work as well.

“You put more effort into the floats this year,” Gail Oliphant, of Gridleys of Fountain Hills, said to her son, Andy, a senior and parade participant.

There were seven floats that marched by in the parade and each of them had their own style.

The four grade levels focused on their specific themes for the floats, such as “Spidery Seniors” for the senior class and a Batman float for the juniors, which ended up stealing first place in the float contest.

But constructing the floats for the parade was an activity that took about two weeks and pushed students of different grade levels together, many for the first time.

“We all helped build the floats,” Senior Homecoming King Ethan Hodge said as he climbed off the back of a shiny convertible, which he had shared with Senior Homecoming Queen Taylor Combs during the parade.

As well as building new relationships, the parade also benefited businesses on the small main street.

“We did get some sales out of it,” Oliphant added. Gridleys of Fountain Hills extended its hours for the night and kept the doors wide open for residents to get a drink of water or use the bathroom.

“We stayed open to support everyone.”

Support from the new Fountain Hills High School Athletic Booster Club made this first parade possible by coordinating efforts between the students, Town Council and the Sheriff's Office.

“They had the energy, they had the resources and the parents to make it happen,” Myhr said while holding the seniors’ unofficial class mascot “Bermuda,” a Cabbage Patch doll painted bright red -- the senior class color, at the pep rally Friday afternoon.

Fountain Hills students then celebrated their 69-12 victory over the Maricopa Rams at the homecoming game Friday night.

The week-long celebration culminated with a dance Saturday evening on the FHHS campus.