South Hills Stars ready to shine at Bethel Park parade

The Stars will be on parade.

During Bethel Park’s annual Memorial Day extravaganza, keep an eye out for a group of folks who are making their large-scale public debut after a couple of months of practice.

Emily Columbus serves as instructor for the South Hills Stars Color Guard, a special-needs program that is open for anyone to join no matter what level of ability.

A special education teacher at Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Bethel Park School District, Columbus started the Stars based on her positive experiences in founding a similar program in Morgantown while attending West Virginia University.

She took the idea to Cathy Muscato, who since has retired as Bethel Park Community Center director, and received an overwhelmingly positive response. Once word of the program made its way into the community, the response also was overwhelming.

Plans originally were for up to 20 participants, but the roster has turned out to include 32 Stars. Working with them each week are about 15 volunteers.

“The volunteers are the backbone of this organization. They’re amazing,” Columbus said. “They work with the girls and the guys, and they see who needs extra help.”

Some participants are vision-impaired, and some are in wheelchairs. Regardless, everyone appears to be having a good time as Columbus leads invigorating routines, in both the community center gymnasium and outside in the parking lot.

A cheering section of family members provides extra encouragement.

“The parents of the Stars are willing to do whatever we need,” Columbus said, “and they’re just so thankful to have their kids out and doing some fun stuff.”

Participants are thankful, too.

“It’s something I wanted to try,” Monessen resident Meredith Ambrose said. “It’s my first time doing it, and it’s a lot of fun. You get to meet new friends, and you learn new techniques.”

Columbus has choreographed a color-guard routine to “This Is Me,” performed by Keala Settle in the soundtrack to “The Greatest Showman,” the 2017 film based on the life of 19th-century entertainer P.T. Barnum. A scene in the movie has some of Barnum’s charges singing about themselves.

“They’re different from other people, so they’re kind of outcasts,” Columbus said. “And then at that point in the show, they’re like, wait. Why are we hiding? We should be standing up for ourselves.”

As far as color-guard essentials, the Stars received a sizable grant from Miracles 360 Foundation, a McCandless-based nonprofit focused on families. And Band Shoppe, the company from which the supplies were ordered, provided free shipping.

Prior to the Memorial Day parade, a live performance for friends and family was scheduled. Following a summer break, Columbus plans to resume the program in August, likely welcoming back participants from the initial group.

“They’ve been Stars,” she said.