Graduation Time

Our Seniors are done with school and the open house graduation parties are in full swing but they don't have graduation exercises until next Sunday. Made me think back to my own graduation, back in 1976 from good ole West Lyon High School of Inwood, IA. It was a tradition to wear the school choir robes which were blue and purchase our motar boards/hats. Girls got a graduation dress and guys usually got a suit for graduation. Our class was short money for big bouquets of flowers for the stage and I remember making tissue paper roses in the art room which we put in two huge bouquets on the stage. We were so proud no one in the crowd at a distance knew they were fake.Above: A few of my classmates walking in or out. If we don't have roses in our hands the photo was Sunday afternoon, we had the roses for Graduation night. We had a baccalaureate service on Sunday (the afternoon after prom I might add, what were they thinking!) Of course, that was in the days when prayer was legal at school events, it's nuts to think prayer can't be included now! Graduation followed on Wednesday evening.Kids didn't attend other classmates parties, they were busy at their own! It was a time for family and friends. Graduating in the Bicentennial year, we were thick into the red, white, and blue. We just had to work in red into the blue robes and white caps and did that with red tipped white roses. Mothers all tried to work in blue to the lunch, cake or punch. If I remember right we had cake with red roses on top, frozen fruit cups, macaroni salad, sandwiches, mints, nuts and punch at my open house. We alternated the napkins blue and white.