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05/04/2022 08:30 AMAfter Covid created a two-year upheaval to traditional Project Graduation (PG) celebrations, Christine Blumberg and many parent volunteer members of the Guilford High School (GHS) community are determined to make this year’s all-night, substance-free PG party especially memorable for the GHS Class of 2022.
When her oldest son, Camden, graduated from GHS in 2020, the PG experience was just one of many senior class activities that could not be celebrated as expected.
“He’s the reason I got involved with PG,” said Christine of her son, currently a sophomore at University of California, Santa Barbara. “His was that class that missed every [traditional] senior activity.”
The mom of two is now assisting PG so that her youngest son, Justin (a senior with the GHS Class of 2022 set to attend Emerson College in Boston next year), will have the full PG experience. To do that, Christine knew she wanted to do all she could to help bring PG back into full swing.
“I said I was going to whatever I could to make sure he and his classmates have a blast,” says Christine, who threw herself in to assisting with fundraising efforts.
This year’s celebration will be held at Chelsea Piers in Stamford. The event is designed to keep grads safe in a fun, exciting location with many special experiences to enjoy and memories to make as they celebrate together on graduation night.
To keep the participation fee to a minimum, PG volunteers pull together throughout the year to develop and run fundraising events. Now, with the calendar flipping faster toward graduation night in June, it’s crunch time. Community residents are especially encouraged to mark their calendars and purchase tickets now or at the door to help support two special PG events coming up in the month of May.
On Sunday, May 15, a Pasta Night fundraiser with live entertainment will take place at St. George Church, 33 Whitfield Street, from 5 to 7 p.m., with GHS seniors doing the cooking. Tickets, $15 include pasta, bread, salad, drink and dessert. Advance tickets are on sale now at go.rallyup.com/ghspastadinner.
On Wednesday, May 25, the public can support the PG restaurant dining program at Guilford Mooring, 505 Whitfield Street. From noon to 9 p.m., 10 percent of every take-away or sit-down lunch or dinner sale made at Guilford Mooring will be donated to PG.
Christine is organizing this year’s Guilford Mooring event, including a fabulous Silent Auction that will be on display at the restaurant. Items, all of which have been donated, range from weekend getaways to valuable goods and services from local merchants and businesses to packed theme baskets gathered by parent volunteers.
Reservations are encouraged, as this is a popular annual fundraiser for PG.
“It’s such a great event,” says Christine. “The Guilford Mooring has done this for a lot of years to help support PG.”
If you can’t make either event, no worries—you can still help support GHS PG 2022.
“Anyone can donate to PG. You don’t have to actually participate in these events to help out,” says Christine.
Donations can be made online to PG 2022, via go.rallyup.com/ghsprojgrad
In addition, GHS PG 2022 is also hosting front-lawn fundraisers in the form of its Flock a Friend effort (send a surprise flock of plastic flamingos) and sales of GHS Class of 2022 green and white lawn signs. For flamingos, visit go.rallyup.com/ghs22flocking. For lawn signs, go to go.rallyup.com/ghs22lawnsigns.
‘Keeping Our Youth Safe’
For Christine, PG is definitely about giving graduates a memorable send-off, but it’s also all about “keeping our youth safe.” She notes PG is a national program started in 1980 in Oxford Hills, Maine. The previous year, in 1979, Oxford Hills saw seven graduation night fatalities, due to alcohol/drug-related incidents and/or general auto accidents. It has now become a nationwide initiative and hundreds of schools across the nation have adopted this event.
“There was a high school that said, ‘We have to stop this.’ So they created Project Graduation, and now, it’s a nationwide program,” says Christine.
As a parent, “all of these events that happen at the end of the year—prom, graduation—as fabulous as they are, as exciting as they are, it’s also very disconcerting. This is when they let loose. This is when you worry the most that something is going to happen,” says Christine. “The goal of Project Graduation is to get them in a safe location where they can have a blast and be together. It is definitely something that I feel puts your mind at ease, that you know where your child is on one of those nights.”
Following graduation ceremonies on the Guilford Green, grads have time to gather with their families for an early evening before boarding buses at approximately 9:30 p.m. to head off to Chelsea Piers. The Class of 2022 will party all night and into the early morning, until about 4 a.m. and their safe return to town about an hour later.
“They stay there all night, doing fun stuff,” says Christine. “Chelsea Piers is a huge gym/recreational center. They have ice skating, basketball, rock-climbing, movies, food—they have everything. There’s just a million things you can do there. It’s a great outlet for the kids to blow off steam and be with their friends in a party atmosphere” that’s drug-free and alcohol free.
The goal of PG is to have every member of the GHS Class of 2022 attend, should they so desire. This year’s class numbers approximately 250.
“Our job is to fundraise to make enough money to send all of them, so that their fee to go is nominal,” says Christine.
Christine says this year’s PG efforts are being spearheaded by volunteers Tina Roman and Mary Amter, who are overseeing the huge group effort that has so many members of the GHS family community involved. Christine notes even elementary school parents are getting involved, such as those who have responded to her idea to have the lower schools develop a fabulous gift basket for the silent auction event at Guilford Mooring.
In addition parents of seniors, many parents of juniors and others get involved in the leg work needed to bring about PG. In fact, Christine notes parents of GHS juniors are still needed to volunteer to help out as in-person attendants for the Chelsea Piers event.
Christine is also extremely thankful to for those who have already signed on to help to make this year’s PG a memorable one for the GHS Class of 2022.
“This town rallied,” says Christine. “All of these parents showed up. All of them have full-time jobs and a million other things to do; and they’re doing this. They’re walking around the green and putting up posters and asking for donations from business. They’re putting together baskets. Everyone’s doing a piece of it. It’s total team effort, led by Tina Roman and Mary Amter. It’s so inspiring.”
For more information or volunteer with PG 2022, email troman@comcast.net or join the Project Graduation Class of 2022 Facebook page.