The Oak Grove Board of Aldermen on Aug. 18 approved a special event permit for Oak Grove School District’s homecoming events: a parade on Friday, Sept. 19, and the traditional bonfire on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

City staff reported the school’s activities director, Ryan Schartz, applied to use the same parade route as the previous year and to move the bonfire slightly north onto a roped-off asphalt area adjacent to a new high‑school parking lot, in the detention-basin area. Staff said students and attendees would be kept off the basin and within the roped asphalt area. Fire department staff reviewed the plan and raised only one note: proximity of overhead lines closer to the road.

An alderman asked whether the department had safety concerns based on last year’s parade; a department representative said previous issues at 11th and 12th streets had been addressed and there were no hesitations about the route this year. The board approved the permit by voice vote.