Rebecca Olson

News-Times intern

The community is still dissecting the experience of the first graduation ceremony ever held outdoors at Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

The chilly wind acquainted itself with all guests of Oak Harbor High School’s graduation ceremony Monday evening, June 16. This was the first year in recent history that graduation was held outdoors.

“We wanted the opportunity for more people to have tickets,” explained Bill Weinsheimer, associate principal of Oak Harbor High School. Holding the ceremony in the stadium allowed each student to invite seven to eight guests instead of the usual four. This meant that twice as many people could attend the celebration, bringing the total number of guests to more than 2,500.

“It’s always a gamble with the weather, but it’s a much nicer setting to be outside, and twice as many people get to see,” said Joe Hunt, communications director.

The gamble with the weather was lost miserably.

“We have very, very few evenings that it’s pleasant to be outside. To start a graduation at 7:00 — those poor kids nearly froze to death, not to mention their families,” said Karl Krieg, whose two grandchildren graduated.

Krieg’s solution is to hold future graduations at 1 p.m. on a weekend afternoon.

“I realize they can’t control the weather, but I don’t know what they were thinking having it that late in the evening,” Krieg said.

The wind made mischief by blowing a big purple carpet over. That was quickly remedied, but “things were blowing every which way,” said Krieg.

“It wasn’t perfect weather. When graduation is held in the gym, we get complaints of it being too hot,” Superintendent Rick Schulte said. “But the overwhelming complaint for a long time has been the lack of seats.”

One purpose of building the stadium was to accommodate more seating, according to Schulte. Nearly every seat was filled in the stadium that night. With so many spectators present, it was crowded exiting the stadium, especially when the graduates exited between lines of teachers and their families rushed after them.

“It was so crowded that if there was an emergency, there would have been a problem,” Lyle Bull, a retired Navy admiral, said. His grandchildren are graduates of OHHS.

Krieg, who owns a gravel and paving operation, felt claustrophobic as the ceremony ended.

“We were locked in there like animals,” Krieg said.

“The crowding, that’s one of the lessons we’ve learned,” said Hunt.

Another difference between holding graduation in the gym versus in the stadium was that graduates sat facing the crowd in the stadium.

“Then spectators were able to get faces involved in photos,” Schulte said.

Hunt explained that it was darker in the gym so not everyone’s camera could take decent photos. However, outside, there was plenty of light for any camera.

A big problem for Bull and other members of the Rotary Club was the lack of a color guard and reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at the ceremony.

Schulte said the color guard and Pledge haven’t happened at a graduation in the 21 years that he’s been here.

“We had the color guard and anthem at the awards ceremony a different day. I think it’s traditional to do it at that time,” Schulte said.

Bull disagreed.

“Even if the flag wasn’t honored at past graduations, that’s not a reason to eliminate it. Oak Harbor is a military town and 56.8 percent of the school district are dependents of military people, so the flag must be honored,” said Bull.

Schulte said, “Neither system is perfect and it’s not uncommon for graduations to be held outdoors. It’s about meeting the needs of graduates and their families, and the overwhelming need has been for more seating.”

Krieg and Bull agreed that “they should think up something better for next year.”

After further discussions, maybe the will.