On Saturday December 9, Linganore High School (LHS) held its 18th annual Lancer Candy Cane Lane.

Lancer Candy Cane Lane is put on every year by long-time coordinators Keith and Michelle Prather, the founders of the event. The event took place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the cafeteria and on main street, and was open to neighboring communities. 

Kids of all ages lined table benches to get their faces painted, decorate cookies, make paper snowflakes and other holiday-themed crafts. 

Linganore students helped spread the holiday cheer by providing a total of 23 activities for attendees to participate in.

Each honor society and student club involved provided crafts or activities for the people attending. For example, the National Art Honor Society provided face painting, the National Business Honor Society made Santa Claus crafts and the National English Honor Society made holiday mad libs.

The National Honor Society provided a host of activities including gingerbread house paper bags, cookie decorating, felt ornaments, picture frames, hand and footprint reindeer, Santa’s secret shopping and games such as ring toss and bucket throw. 

Avery Marth, a senior at LHS, volunteered with the National English Honor Society (NEHS) and was part of the magic making. 

“I enjoyed watching all the kids do the activities and seeing how excited they were,” Marth said.

Senior Genesis Maldonado, president of Student Government Association (SGA), has been helping out with Candy Cane Lane since her sophomore year. Each of those years she has worked in Santa’s gift shop. 

SGA did not have its own booth at Candy Cane Lane this year, so Maldonado was constantly assisting with other booths during the event. 

Traditionally, Candy Cane Lane sees a good turn out of children from all over the county. Local elementary schools such as New Market, Green Valley, Twin Ridge and Blue Heron typically provide a number of families to attend events like these. 

“I really like getting to work with kids in the community and getting to see a lot of alumni and previous faces from the year before,” said Maldonado. “It’s fun to see what community we are all a part of.” 

Lancer Candy Cane Lane has been a holiday season mainstay since 2005. Although planning the community event can sometimes be strenuous, Michelle Prather refuses to retire. 

“Seeing the smiles on the kids faces and seeing the high school kids interact with the younger kids is everything; it makes it all worth it…just making people happy,” Prather said.

Candy Cane Lane is a fun, holiday activity for all involved, and it brings together the community of future and current Lancers.