By Raymond Billy

Assistanteditor@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Jacksonville High School 2007 graduates were singing in the rain Friday night, ignoring a fairly heavy rainstorm that did nothing to dampen their spirits.

As much as two hours before Jacksonville High’s commencement ceremony was to begin, weather reports predicted that showers would wash over Jacksonville just as the final stragglers were entering the Tomato Bowl.

Yet, the ceremony was not moved to Lon Morris College's Vivan and Bob Smith Events Center, the school’s implied contingency plan for inclement weather. Instead, hundreds of patrons were soaked as the skies opened up at or around 7:30 p.m., the originally scheduled start time for the festivities.

Jacksonville High School Principal Duane Barber said that, in spite of the weather warnings, it was the students who urged he and JISD superintendent Stuart Bird to keep the ceremony at the Tomato Bowl.

“I’ve been getting calls all day from students begging me to keep the graduation ceremony at the Tomato Bowl,” Barber said. “It’s a tradition.”

Valedictorian Elizabeth Ross agreed with Barber’s assessment.

“We wanted our graduation to be were we felt most at home and this is where we felt at home,” Ross said.

Ross’ attitude was gracious considering her Valedictorian Address was spoiled by technical difficulties caused by the rain. Her microphone cut in-and-out during her speech, approximately 1/3 of which inaudible to the audience. But, Ross took the situation in stride.

“The reason I was here was to graduate.” she said, adding “Even though the ceremony was delayed we took advantage of the time to have fun together.”

The Commencement didn’t begin until 8:15 p.m., 45 minutes after the original start time.

Technical difficulties were evident from the start, as the opening prayer was heard only intermittently due to the technical problems. However, Salutatorian Kristen Stewart and Megan Delaney came through loud and clear when they performed the National Anthem. Stewart's Salutatorian Address was clearly heard as well.

When Barber went before the microphone just before diplomas were handed out, he announced that amongst the 230 graduates, overall, the class of 2007 had been the recipients of over $500,000 in college scholarships.

Following Barber, JISD School Board President Larry Folden presented students with their diplomas. When Folden was in the middle of the "R" on the list of graduates, the train roared past the Tomato Bowl, whistling loudly. Folden paused for 20 seconds while the train past. Then, he decided to ignore it.

A fitting end to an unusual - but joyful - commencement ceremony.