DAWSON CITY – Dogs were howling all over town between 8 and 9 p.m. Tuesday, accompanying the honking of horns, clapping of hands, cheers, and the wail of sirens.

It all happened as the Robert Service School (RSS) grads of 2020 made their way around town, assisted by the Dawson and Klondike Valley Fire Departments, the RCMP and an EMS ambulance.

The students were perched in the backs of pickup trucks, gowned, in groups of two.

The route was circuitous, made necessary by water and sewer rebuilds underway on Fifth and Third avenues, and a blockage on Second Avenue, where Parks Canada is working on Ruby’s Place.

However, they managed a route which took them from the Diamond Tooth Gertie’s parking lot, west on Queen Street to Front, north to King, south on Seventh to Dugas, where they veered west to Front, east on Harper to Sixth and eventually back to Gerties.

The actual route didn’t quite follow the map as it had been posted on Facebook, but it still looped most of the town.

That did mean that some of the people who had waited at the intersection of Church and Fifth had to move quickly to catch up at Harper.

An accompanying announcement said: “Let’s celebrate the RSS Class of 2020 with a PARADE! A Cap & Gown ceremony is planned for later this summer when some restrictions are eased, but, for now, they deserve a little something for all their hard work.

“Yell, wave, clap and cheer as they drive by!”

People did.

Similar events have been reported in a number of other towns, notably in Faro and Carmacks.

Communities handle these events themselves without any need of co-ordination by the government or political parties.