Class of 1967 Message Center

Class of 1967 Message Center
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Graduation 1967

As May arrives it is time for graduation. Anyone want to share their memories of graduation?(that includes other classes as well)
I remember the practice and having to line up one boy and one girl to walk in. Peggy and I were the shortest in our class and remember being in the front as not only was it a girl and a boy but also by height.
I remember feeling free, no longer under my parents thumb. And being able to stay out ALL night long. Sandy Ranells, Sue Covey, Claudia Dunagan, Rochell Porter, Vicki Watts and I went out to the Sand Dunes and stayed out all night long, and how tired I was the next day.
But I have absolutely no recollection of the actual ceremony.

Re: Graduation 1967

Well, it was 1975 and in the Spokane Valley, but our graduation ceremonies were to be held on the football field. But it rained, so we held it in the gym and it got sooooooooo hot (body heat) that we all almost passed out in our heavy gowns. One of our more irreverent classmates was voted to some position that enabled him to read a poem. It was classic. When we get together to this day, the poem is recited.

Sand Dunes at night. How cool. That was, what, about an hours drive or so? I loved the dunes.

Re: Re: Graduation 1967

Looking at the program, they didn't let any of us speak. Even looking at the program I don't remember any of it.
We had "Highlights from The Music Man"????
Commencement Address by the President of College of Idaho. But no speeches by students.
Honor Graduates were:
Claudia Dunagan
Karen Frasch
De Fedde
Janis Walker
Sandra Ranells
Duane Ott
James Beach
Jill Wintersteen

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I remember graduation night as a hot and humid in Columbus, Ohio. Walking down the football field in high heels and sinking into the turf. Our songs were Climb Every Mountain and the Impossible Dream. I also remember thinking that we'd better behave or the nuns could get in their last shot at us. The school had an all nite party, but I did not go because it was being chaparoned by the nuns. Thought that would be a drag. Instead went out with a friend bar hopping (legal age in Ohio was 18 for beer)until two and went home. Not an exciting end to the event, but I sure remember the freedom!!

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So who can tell me what the difference between a Baccalaureate and a Convocation is? According to the graduation booklet we had a Baccalaureate and last night I went to a Convocation for my son. I looked both words up in the dictionary and after reading them to my husband he said "so they are both non words that mean nothing".
A Baccalaureate according to the dictionary is a gathering and in another dictionary is something awarded at a university.
Convocation is according to both dictionaries, a gathering or assembly.
Looking at the program for our Baccalaureate it sounds like it was more religious, lots of the heads of churches speaking.
The convocation I went to last night was an awards for the top 40 students from my son's high school. They receive cords to wear that denote their rank along with other cords for other things, like belonging to National Honor Society, or being a class officer. Those students that received scholarships were announced.
So Iny or Moose I'm sure the two of you must know the difference.

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Baccalaureate was definitely a religous assembly when I graduated. Parents were not even invited to attend. It was done during school hours. We had Mass and then the principal handed out keychains that were blessed by the Pope. My oldest son did not have it when he graduated from H.S. I don't know if it is even done anymore with the separation of church and state.?? They did have academic awards assembly.

Re: Graduation, etc.

Hi, everyone. I am responding to this one on the '66 board because I have more to say. Hope that's okay.

Graduation, etc.

Okay, so a girl can changer her mind, hm? The other part is posted in '66 and lucky you! this part - the dry, pedantic stuff - is posted here:

Yes, Kathy, Baccalaureate - a religious celebration solemnifying the accomplishment of graduation - has been banned from public school systems because of the peripheral but very vocal fringe of people who insist upon the erasure of all language or activities connected with [the Christian] God, while denying the majority ALL the time-honored traditions or reverence for whatever short history our country has.

(Guess it's not hard to see where I stand on this one. I take history over PC nearly every time.)

Baccalaureate never was mandatory, but in 1966 I'd say some 70% of the seniors and their families (maybe more) attended the ceremony on Sunday evening, the beginning of the Commencement week. Everyone dressed up and we seniors wore our graduation robes. Going to Baccalaureate was the respectful thing to do, and it was part of the accepted protocol of the time. Surely, the presence of the Air Force contributed greatly to that feeling of respect. Anyway, most folks attended; they didn't even consider not going. That was the beginning of our Graduation Week that would end with the actual Commencement (heh-heh . . . and then the all-night party, intended to keep the grads occupied, safe, and alcohol-free . . . which worked, of course).

Nowadays, Baccalaureate usually takes place in individual churches when someone in the parish organizes it. I know of a few churches that do nothing or just congratulate the seniors during the service; still other smaller churches join together so the ceremony has more impact. In our town, the churches combined to "rent" the auditorium just as any other community group has the right to do, so we celebrated in our own high school gym. One way to get around the church/state thing.

As for Convocation, Kathy, that's a new one on me. Denotatively it does mean a gathering of people, but around here (PNW) what you described is just called Senior Awards Night.

PS, Susan, you are absolutely correct, of course: Baccalaureate is also a degree conferred by colleges and universities - only the four-year institutions, I think - and on the receiving end it's pretty much synonymous with getting one's "bachelor" degree, B.A. or B.S.

Re: Graduation, etc.

Wish more people would post their memories, or are the rest of you like me and can't remember?

Re: Re: Graduation, etc.

The memories I have are a little different than most.

I got married in March and did not graduate with my class. I later got my GED, but sure wish I could have been there. We had already moved to Oregon

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Okay, Richard B., I told you I would eventually write something on here. (I saw him at the Doubletree here in Boise a few weeks back; we were listening to the same band that played at our reunion, the Chancellors, but they didn't sound nearly as great as at the reunion.) Anyway, I remember graduation very well...we had a dance at Gary's Sugar Shack and I did the alligator for the first time in my life...the Drive-In movie was much later in the wee-hours in the morning, and then we were served breakfast at North Elementary (which wasn't very appealing!) It seems like the bowling alley was open for awhile during the wee hours also but that could have been another class...also someone sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" at our graduation...was it Bill Day? I know I was crying and so emotional to be leaving all my friends and was mad that I had to keep holding up my walking partner because he was so drunk, when I wanted it to be a special, solemn occasion. I remember catching a glance at Gig, since we were broken up at the time, and his glare back at me...who'd have known a year later we would be married. Last Friday we attended the graduation ceremonies for the small school Gig teaches at now in Mtn. Home, Richard McKenna Charter High School, which graduated 30 seniors. Mr. Rumpf (who Gig remembers giving him some painful whacks on the butt with his paddle)would be surprised to see Gig teaching art and history now. It was a great, and very traditional ceremony and was held in the gym of our old jr. high school.

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Well Betty, your memories are good, much better than mine! I remember walking the line and getting the diploma but I sure don't remember anything after that. I wonder why that is?

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I remember graduation - or at least some of it. We ended up at the Sand Dunes in my mother's car. The next morning she was reading the paper at the breakfast table (yeah - we all sat down to breakfast together back then) and there I was sitting on the hood of HER car with a beer in my hand. BUSTED!

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Martha,
Was that the Boise Statesman? Do you still have the picture? My mom says our car was in that picture also. I don't remember it and she wasn't able to find the picture the last time I was there.
Hey all of you please find some pictures to send to me. They are outdoing us with the old pictures on the 65 site.