‘Pretty good box of chocolates’ at Callaway
CALLAWAY - Change continued to affect the Callaway High School Class of 2020 right up to ceremony time. Like other area graduations, it was postponed from May to July. Just hours before the ceremony, however, scheduled for 7 p.m., Sunday, July 19 on the football field another change was made.
“At two o’clock, an inch of rain was predicted between 7 and 8 o’clock,” Principal Heath Brikel said.
So the community of Callaway came together and held the ceremony at 6:15 p.m.
To Birkel’s knowledge, this is the first time graduation has been held outdoors at Callaway. The football field provided plenty of space for family members and friends to social distance. Each student was assigned eight chairs in widely-spaced rows. Some attendees brought lawn chairs, others sat on bleachers and still others watched from vehicles. The 15 graduates were seated on a stage of flatbed trailers.
“We have a very generous and caring community, and they had the ability to pull together to make this happen,” Birkel said. Referring to the school year which ended with cancellation of sports, remote learning instead of in-classroom attendance and postponement of both Prom and Gradation for two months, Birkel added, “The kids have been through enough. We wanted to do this for them.”
In his valedictory address, Philip Connor
Rosfeld also recognized the support of the community. “The events that have happened across the country and here at home have shown us how good the small town life is. There is nothing like the incredible support of a while town that wants nothing but the best for you and is always here for you,” he said. Community support, Connor said, “has shaped us and let us become the people we are today. It also helped show us the people we want to become.”
The Classes of 2020 may well understand better than most, the speed and randomness with which things change and events are affected. Despite the challenges that end the last school year, Connor appeared to be appreciative, ending his speech with a quote from what he called one of the greatest movies of all time. “Forrest Gump once said, ‘Life is like box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Connor said. “I think I was given a pretty good box of chocolates.”
The CHS Class of 2020 chose the following lyric from Styx as their motto: “Our memories of yesterday will last a lifetime. We’ll take the best, forget the rest and some day we’ll find these are the best of times.” Their class colors are wine and charcoal grey and they chose the white rose dipped in silver as their flower.
And that rain? By 7:05 it hadn’t yet arrived and the graduates and families were visiting in early evening sunshine, however, banks of clouds were gathering further to the west.