graduation set-up crew makes it happen

Yo, Graduates!

Yeah, all 108 of you sitting there on the stage. That’s right.  The Class of 2005.

OK, now that I have your attention, there’re some things I’d like you to know. Don’t worry.   This isn’t another commencement speech.  There’ll be no pontificating, no moralizing, no rules to live by. It’s a story about how this day came to pass. Actually, about how every graduation day comes to pass. Doesn’t have anything to do with academics or sports or extra-curriculars.  Has everything to do with planning, learning, and hard work, which, if you think about it, might be the best lesson of all.

Anyway, see those chairs where your proud parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, friends, and teachers and coaches are sitting? Know how they got there? The good folks in our physical plant department arranged them neatly for your big day. You see, in late April, about the time the Village Green Fair was over, they kicked into graduation mode. They ordered up 3,000 folding chairs, and, when they arrived a few days ago, placed every single one of them for you and your guests.

As you know, here at Collegiate we like our graduation outside which means that our staff spends many hours sprucing up the grounds. The problem, as you also know, is that Richmond weather in early June can be pretty funky. We’ll persevere through almost anything, but one thing that can really dampen the festivities is, well, rain.

Wilbur Athey, our projects and setup manager, remembers graduation in 1989 when, just as first-year headmaster Rob Hershey began his remarks, thunder rolled, lightning split the western sky, and the clouds opened.

“Everybody had to pick up chairs and take them to the athletic center,” Athey recalled.  “We also had to take the sound equipment. “It was hectic there for a few minutes.  We didn’t have air conditioning. It was hot and stuffy, but graduation went smoothly. “After that, we developed a rain plan.” Now, a stage, 1,500 chairs, and a ton of sound equipment go up on the front lawn, and the crew creates an identical setup in the athletic center where Precision Air, thankfully, installs a heavy-duty AC unit.

Not that “the plan” solves all our problems, of course. Some years after the aforementioned deluge, the crew arrived as the sun rose on graduation day to find an empty stage. Someone had swiped the chairs and tossed them in the creek just off North Mooreland Road, and the crew scrambled to return them to their places.  The show went on as scheduled.  The culprits remain at large.

Another time, some mischievous lads pulled all the cords from the sound system.  They thought they were being cute.  The authorities thought otherwise.  The miscreants spent a memorable week as unpaid employees of the school under Athey’s watchful eye.

Still another time, vandals used gasoline to spell out some unseemly vocabulary in the grass on the front lawn. Fortunately, green paint did the trick.

Now, once the setups begin, officers from Vance Security watch the premises 24/7. “We’re on top of things a lot better now,” said Athey.  “Hopefully, the worst stuff has happened.”

This morning around 7, the team of 30 arrived, checked for egregious graffiti, ensured that the chairs were aligned just so, gave them one last cleaning, did yet another sound check, supervised parking, then stepped back as you arrived to enjoy your big day. Before you’ve finished lunch, the setup will be down, the area clear, and the crew on its way home for the weekend before returning Monday to prepare for the summer programs.

“Preparing for graduation is pretty routine now, but it’s still demanding work,” said Glen Dandridge, our manager of transportation and maintenance.  “Our main concern is to make it a successful day for everyone.”