Tuesday, May 20, 2003
By JOANNE JONES
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
UE AND WARREN BURD MADE A DECISION last June as their oldest son, Ryan, finished his junior year of high school: to have his graduation party at their home.
Lisa and Dale Metzgar made a different decision about their daughter Amber's party after weighing their options: There's no way they'll have her graduation party at home.
Where to host the party is only one of the stressful decisions parents have to make when it's time for a child to graduate. They have to choose the right food, determine whom and how many people they should invite, shop frequently for supplies and decorations, and organize 18 years of pictures and memorabilia into scrapbooks.
"We want to have Ryan's party at home because it's more personal and comfortable for our guests," Sue Burd said. "We're planning for about 200 people, and some of them have a three-hour drive. We want them to be able to relax."
Choosing the date
The Burds opted to have Ryan's party the night before his June 1 graduation from Sebring McKinley so they would be able to enjoy the ceremony and not have to rush home to take care of all the guests. The Metzgars selected June 14, the Saturday after Amber's West Branch ceremony, for the same reason, yet they wanted to have her party away from home.
"I'm too persnickety," Lisa Metzgar said. "We would have had to do so much at home -- all new landscaping, build a deck. And there's the issue if it rains. You have to rent a tent, tables and chairs and a Porta-Potty. We decided to rent Quaker Canyon, and we were lucky to get June 14."
Quaker Canyon, in Damascus, has a pavilion, a playground for children, a volleyball net, paddleboats equipped with life jackets, and "fishing for fun," Metzgar said. With all that, the young children at the party shouldn't get bored.
Other families like the Metzgars have found it more convenient to rent park pavilions, banquet centers, bingo halls or church fellowship halls.
Hosting at home
The Burd family, however, has reserved a 20-by-30-foot tent, at a cost of $200, for their party. They made the reservation in December because of demand.
"We started thinking about renting one last year, and some companies had already rented all theirs for graduation weekend," Sue Burd said. "The company sets it up and then takes it down, so it's not so bad."
Because the Burd family will be hosting at home, getting ready for the party also included her husband putting in drywall and painting the garage where some guests will sit, as well as doing some landscaping. She said the males in the family -- Warren, Ryan and little brother Aaron -- have taken care of all that.
Carolyn Day, whose daughter, Stephanie, will graduate June 8 from Springfield Local, is a veteran at hosting graduation parties since her family boasts graduates from 1999 and 2000. The major task her family has completed for the party is yardwork, she said.
"I spend at least an hour a day after work," said Day, who is a secretary in a dance studio.
Laying in the supplies
Buying party supplies and decorations can cause more stress, especially if parents have children in two districts. Megan and Will Woods' daughter Annastasia graduated in 2002 from West Branch, while second daughter and 2003 graduate Amanda decided to transfer to Sebring to spend her senior year.
"I went around to dollar stores, buying every green plastic tablecloth, plate, bowl and spoon I could find," Megan Woods said. "I thought I'd be set for all five of my children." Now she has to find purple and gold supplies to replace all the green and white. Yet, she, too, is comfortable with inviting 200 people to her home for a graduation party even though they have had to remodel a bathroom and kitchen and "do everything else that hasn't been done in 12 years."
Burd said she did a little shopping here and there for supplies and decorations, picking up a lot of "2003" items on sale right after New Year's. She said the family also made one big trip to Sam's Club recently to get everything else they need.
Selecting food for the occasion depends on whether the parents have help from family members, know a good caterer, or choose a banquet center with its own staff. Most families who host at home make some of their own food and then rely on delicatessens or caterers to provide the rest.
Rigatoni, hot sausage sandwiches, hot turkey sandwiches, meat and cheese trays, potato or macaroni salad and fruit cups are on many graduation menus. Some families also serve baked chicken, hot wings and other favorites of the graduates, such as salsa, nacho cheese and tortilla chips or homemade cookies.
"I started baking cookies in February and freezing them," Sue Burd said. She's also enlisting the help of her mother-in-law and Talloaks Banquet Center in Sebring to provide some of the food.
Dale Metzgar's cousin used to be a caterer, Lisa said, and she's "helping me out big time.
"We're making sausage, peppers and onions as well as stuffed shells, potato dishes and different salads," Carolyn Day said. "I'm also going to buy chicken wings, a meat and cheese tray and the cake."
Doing scrapbooks
Since her daughter Stephanie is so busy and isn't "really proficient in the kitchen," Day has put her in charge of the scrapbook project.
"That's one of the jobs -- she put all of her stuff together," Day said. "That's right up her alley." Since Stephanie is a cheerleader, student body president, National Honor Society president and editor of both Springfield's yearbook and newspaper, she has a lot of pictures and memorabilia to organize. She also manages to hold two part-time jobs.
Putting scrapbooks and picture displays together can be a headache unless the projects are started early. Amber Metzgar has been putting scrapbooks together about her high school dances; her mom is doing a general scrapbook; and family friend Cora Rininger is putting Amber's basketball scrapbook together. Amber's West Branch team qualified for regional play, giving her tons of material and newspaper clippings for that scrapbook alone.
"That's what I should have started four years ago," Burd said. "We started working on scrapbooks in February and March. With all the other things to do, they take a lot of time." They're putting sports in one, compiling a general one and doing a special one for Ryan's recent role as Prince Charming in the school musical "Cinderella."
Ryan also played football and baseball, is senior class president, was induction coordinator for the National Honor Society and is sports editor of the school paper, so he also has plenty of material for scrapbooks.
Been through it before
Darlene Ballard's daughter, Jonnelle, will graduate from Chaney High School on June 5. She said she learned the first time with her daughter Stephanie's graduation in 1998 that having a party in private room at Antone's Restaurant is the way to go.
"It's just easier for me to have it this way," Ballard said. "If you have it at home, you're so busy doing things. It's nice to be able to go in and mingle with guests and have no set up or clean up. It's lovely."
The party, with 75 relatives and close friends, will be held right after Jonnelle's graduation at 1 p.m. On the menu are fried chicken, Italian sausage, rigatoni and meatballs, green beans almondine, buttered redskins, salad and rolls. Ballard will buy the cake from Giant Eagle, she said.
She also said she'll display her daughter's awards, certificates and trophies as well as pictures of her growing up. After an active high school career as president of the Student Advisory Board (to the Youngstown Board of Education), a mentor and P.R.I.D.E. counselor for elementary students and a cheerleader, Jonnelle is headed for Kent State University in the fall to study nursing. Ballard said her daughter doesn't have tasks to complete for the party and "gets off pretty easy because this is her time." The three Ballard women will also celebrate Jonnelle's graduation and Stephanie's 2003 graduation from the University of Toledo with a seven-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.
One piece of advice came through loud and clear from the families planning graduation parties: Start early. Start shopping for bargains; plan menus; rent tents, tables, and chairs; rent a hall; organize pictures and scrapbooks ... and do it early.