The last time I attended a graduation at Sullivan South High School was the very first one back in 1981. One year after my own graduation at Sullivan Central, I was excited about joining my friends for South’s first graduating class of this Sullivan County school located near Colonial Heights in the Pactolus community – home of the rebels.
A couple of weeks ago on Monday, May 21st, I took my camera and watched 241 students from the 2007 graduating class walk across the stage, most noteably Evan Strickler.
Evan is the son of my best friends Danny and Tracy Strickler and the last of their children to walk across the South stage and in many ways, he may be the only one I can be proud of to do the same. Since I have no kids and am getting past the age of considering such fortune, I couldn’t help but share in the excitement and the anticipation for what lies before him and his classmates as they begin a new chapter.
There were plenty of relatives standing in line to get inside the gymnasium that night and things were surprisingly calm and cool in contrast to my own graduation in 1980. Back then, we had over 480 in our graduating class and I’m pretty sure the air conditioner at Central was out of whack and our summer was much hotter than our mild temperatures the past couple of weeks.
On the floor were 250-or-so chairs draped with white linen, a lecturn in the foreground and the Rebel concert band was dressed in black and white playing somber songs that even included (to my surprise) ‘Morning has Broken.” I had hoped that the music would have been a bit more contemporary, but I guess they decided to go classical.
By the time ‘Pomp and Circumstance‘ began, the South graduates filed into their seats wearing gowns in light blue South colors. Over 48 honor students were presented with tassels and medallions in this class. The choir sang a moving ode to the evening and it wasn’t long before Larry Harris (lead vocalist and deep voice for The Reflections) read the names of the graduates as Superintendent Glenn Arwood handed diplomas to the former students.
It wasn’t long before Evan made his way across the stage and I was proud to catch his eye with the camera as he moved quickly down the path…free of high school. There were several other young graduates I opened to know and it pleased me to unexpectedly grab their photos too including Josh Beddingfield and AJ Vines. I also managed to snap a picture of my old friend and business colleague Robert Bishop who was in the stands watching the ceremonies.
The crowd didn’t take long to exit the building and it was great to share a moments and photos with Evan and his friends before they made their way into the night to celebrate. I’m sure the magnitude of the moment passed by so quickly that he’ll forget a lot of what happened that night, but I got a photo with his girlfriend Brooke and several friends who were watching their older bub get the diploma they will receive next year.
Life will quicken its pace now that these students are out of high school. For me, that date seemed like it would never come, but one thing’s for sure, when it did, the ride got even wilder.
Congratulations to all graduates and all the best in the future…just be sure wear your seat belts!