Final touches are in the works for Dry Grad 2017 taking place Saturday, June 10, said Williams Lake Dry Grad chair Marilyn Strohschein.
“It’s been rolling along,” Strohschein told the Tribune Monday. “We had a lot of vacant spots on the committee so it was a slow start, but eventually we had a committee and got to work the beginning of 2017.”
A decorating person stepped forward in February and since then volunteers have been working on decorations appropriate to the theme Neon Black Night which was chosen by the grads.
“I asked the students for a list of what they wanted,” Strohschein said. “I took the top six and put it back to them and asked them to tell us what they wanted.”
It was expected that decorating the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex’s small arena would get underway on Tuesday evening, with work continuing until late Thursday evening.
Open to students from Cariboo Adventist Academy, GROW and Skyline, Lake City Secondary and Maranatha Christian schools, a total 274 graduates have been invited to participate, in Dry Grad, but not all of them attend.
Between 1:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 8 the grads will check in their bags containing items they want to have with them on Saturday evening.
“They are asked not to use the main entrance but to come to the small entrance by Boitanio Park to bring their bags,” Strohschein said.
GROW and Skyline will have a grad ceremony Thursday, June 8 in the Gibraltar Room at 1 p.m. while Lake City Secondary School’s will take place Friday, June 9 in the large arena at 6:30 p.m.
The popular Grad Parade begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 10.
Departing from Sacred Heart Catholic School the parade will proceed down Second Avenue turning left onto Borland Street, then left onto Third Avenue, then right on Proctor Street, right on Fourth Avenue North, left onto Borland Street to Boitanio Park turning up Seventh Avenue North to end up at the complex parking lot.
From the parade the students will begin the celebration inside the complex, with a prom followed by activities beginning at 11 p.m. going until 4:30 to 5 a.m. Sunday when they are picked up to go home.
Community support has been great for Dry Grad, Strohschein said. Cariboo GM donated a brand new 2017 Chevy Spark for the raffle, Hub International Barton Insurance stepped up to help with insurance costs and the Dry Grad committee for the vehicle taxes.
“My fundraising team leaders have been in charge of the raffle,” Strohschein said. “They started the ticket sales right away and have been selling every week. We’re almost sold out.”
Volunteers are required to have a criminal record check to volunteer during the events where students will be in attendance.
“There may be some well-meaning volunteers who want to just show up the day of Dry Grad, but they have to be on the master list or they cannot volunteer,” Strohschein said.
Strohschein has been on the Dry Grad committee since 2012 and hopes to pass on the torch.
“I’ll still be around to answer any questions, I’m not moving away,” she added.
This year she will see her third and youngest child — Haley Strohschein — graduate.