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Parade honors retiring Bethel Park teachers

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Susan Vandewater, left, and Donna DeCarlo greet some of the well-wishers in the dozens of vehicles in a parade honoring them on their retirements.

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Youngsters along the parade route display one of the many congratulatory signs.

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Well-wishers along the parade route express their congratulations.

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Donna DeCarlo sports a shirt with a message for her students to take to heart.

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Susan Vandewater expresses gratitude to well-wishers.

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Sarah Braham guides traffic as the parade forms at South Hills Church of the Nazarene.

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Members of Pittsburgh's Syria Shriners are among the congratulatory contingent.

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The Cary family wishes the teachers well.

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Many of the well-wishers displayed Bethel Park’s colors.

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What's a parade without convertibles?

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The parade served as a prime opportunity for some family fun.

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Members of the Bethel Park Volunteer Fire Company join the contingent.

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The parade forms in the South Hills Church of the Nazarene parking lot.

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A student displays an especially colorful message to the retiring teachers.

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Students extend heartfelt messages to their teachers.

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The bed of a pickup truck serves as an optimal way to travel.

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Smiles abounded during the parade.

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A Franklin Elementary School student finds the sunroof of the family vehicle to be a good vantage point.

Retirement parties are a bit different these days, as Donna DeCarlo and Susan Vandewater learned the heartwarming way.

The teachers at Franklin Elementary School in Bethel Park were greeted by a parade of dozens of vehicles full of well-wishers, from students and their families to a Bethel Park Volunteer Fire Company contingent, including some spectacularly sized fire engines.

Late in the afternoon of May 16 – a threat of rain the following day moved the event 24 hours forward – the vehicles gathered at South Hills Church of the Nazarene before proceeding to DeCarlo’s nearby home.

There, she and Vandewater watched, waved and extended thanks as everyone streamed by, many of the participants displaying signs of gratitude and affection.

Franklin health and physical education teacher DeCarlo has spent 30 years in Bethel Park School District and third-grade teacher Vandewater, 21.

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