Participation in the Apple Blossom Grand Feature Parade

Did you know that Handley High School had a float in the very first Apple Blossom Festival parade in 1924, and that the float won first prize in the float competition? This year, to commemorate the school’s 100 years and our involvement in Apple Blossom during all that time, we’ll again have a float in the Grand Feature parade. The brand-new float is being constructed by art and technology students at Handley. Watch for it in the parade just behind the Marching Judges! Wear your pink and green and cheer for the maroon and white!

Appropriately in our Celebration Year, many Handley Alumni and Current Students will be Celebrities and Honorees in this year’s Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival

Congratulations to Jon Huertas, Handley Class of 1987, on being named Grand Marshall of the 2024 Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. Jon is an actor, director and producer best known for his leading role for six seasons on NBC’s critically acclaimed, award winning series, This Is Us. At Handley, Jon was known as Scott Hofstedt.

Kara Dixon, Handley Class of 2010, will be the featured speaker at the Ladies Horticultural Luncheon. Kara is the Deputy Director of Video Production for the Senate Democratic Media Center for the US Senate in Washington, D.C.

Brothers and fellow DJs Quaye Kennerly (Handley ‘98) and Mark Kennerly (Handley ‘96) who perform under the names DJ UnieQ and DJ Emjay Beats, respectively, will again headline the festival’s Ultimate Dance Party.

The two inductees of the 2024 Class of the Apple Blossom Sports Breakfast Hall of Fame are each Handley graduates, former Handley faculty members, inductees of the Hunter Maddex Hall of Fame, and Handley 100th Notables: Jimmy Omps (Handley ’53) and Chris Garber (Handley ’75). Congratulations to these two Handley greats on this new honor.

Members of the Handley Class of 2024 will also be honored in the 2024 Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. Judges football standout Emmanual Lusca will be Handley’s student-athlete honoree at the Sports Breakfast and Alexandra Gluszak will represent Handley on the court of Queen Shenandoah Joy Elizabeth Berlanga as Princess Handley.