Dancing Grannies pay tribute to those killed in the Waukesha Christmas parade attack

The St. Patrick’s Day parade had been hailed as a return to normalcy in Milwaukee, which canceled the celebration the past two years due to the pandemic.

But for members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a local dance troupe for grandmothers, the parade last week stirred up four-month-old memories of when three of its members and a volunteer were killed during its performance in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

“There was anxiety because people didn’t know how they would be. Everybody was determined that we were going to do this parade,” said Jan Kwiatkowski, one of the Dancing Grannies’ co-leaders. “It was everything from anxiety to nervousness to joy and elation; the whole continuum of emotions.”

In total, six people were killed and at least 62 others injured after the driver of an SUV plowed into a crowd of people at the annual parade on Nov. 21, 2021.

Among those killed were: Tamara Durand, 52; LeAnna Owen, 71; and Virginia “Ginny” Sorenson, 79. William Hospel, 81, the husband of another Grannie, also died as a result of the attack. Two others were also struck and killed; 52-year-old Jane Kulich and 8-year-old Jackson Sparks.

Read more @ https://www.npr.org/2022/03/19/1086780690/dancing-grannies-wisconsin-return