While it seems like only yesterday you were saying goodbye to your new swab at R-DAy, before you know it you will be taking pictures with your new Ensign! Below you will find some Graduation Week insight from the class of 2009 Parents.
General Info
There will be a graduation briefing during Parents weekend, sort of an overview of what to expect, and a place to have some questions answered. The Academy also sends out two mailings to parents, one in the late fall, and one in the spring. Look for these mailings, and hang on to them, as they contain important information about graduation week activities.
Also, please remember that there are things that change from year to year depending on who the graduation speaker will be. The higher the profile, the more stringent the security. If the speaker is very high in government, the Secret Service will dictate what can be done and what can't and that may change at the last minute. Keeping that in mind, some tips passed on from year to year may not be applicable.
Accomodations
We stayed at the Red Roof. It was $105
a night. They don't give any discounts during grad week or special events. After the weekend
it was also empty. I made my reservations in September to beat the rush. They thought I was
kind of crazy for booking so far ahead. Conn College graduation was the 16th. The
next day it cleared right out. So if anyone has a need for a room for just
a couple of days during the week or at the last minute the Red Roof is my suggestion.
It's only 10 minutes from school too.
Rent a house. It allows a place to fix and eat meals, room for everyone to spread out, and a 'staging area' for your cadet's stuff that she/he has to move out of Chase Hall. Plus everyone is in the same place when it's time to head off to one of the grad week events.
Bring extra blankets if you stay at Hawks Nest (summer homes without heat). Seeing your breath in the morning wasn't all that fun....
We stayed at Hawk's Nest and we loved it - even with the cold temperatures. We were together with 3 other families and we had cabins all together in a group so it was easy for everyone to get around to see everyone else. If I were planning for another graduation from the CGA, I would go there again.
Moonlight Cruise
This was great fun. They had two dj's, one in seating area, and one in car area where you could dance. Food was heavy appetizers, and plentiful. Drinks were good and inexpensive, they had a bar set up on seating level and car level. This event sold out, so try to get your tickets early if you want to go to this.
Picnic
The food was wonderful. Tasted great and was plentiful. The seating was short. We, and some other families, sat on the exercise mats cause there were no more tables or chairs and still a long line behind us. My suggestion is if you are able to have chairs from home handy or a blanket it wouldn't hurt. Maybe this happened because of the plan change and the weather. I don't know.
This was very disappointing - it was held in the field house because of the weather - not enough places to sit, and food was mediocre. They had a place outside you could buy beer if you wanted to.
Golf Tournament
If you have a golfer in the family who is attending graduation, consider asking your cadet to sign up with that avid golfer for the tournament. Even if your cadet's only golfing experience is the class she/he took at the Academy, the golfer in your family will likely be thrilled to be asked to play. (Our daughters uncle is an avid golfer and was more than willing to pay the extra baggage to bring his clubs. He golfed on two other days as well, exploring a different local course each time, and had a blast).
Formal Ball
This was a very well orchestrated event. It was reserved seating, and cadets were asked who they would like to sit near - so several adjacent tables held your cadets friends and families. Good food and music. They had a professional photographer there who took formal pictures for $5 per person, and everyone would get a 5x7 that was in the picture. The one drawback was parking - the casino is huge, and not knowing which parking garage was close to the ballroom caused many people a 15 minute walk in high heels - not fun!
Luncheon and Awards Ceremony
The awards luncheon was held in the wardroom - the food was wonderful, and it had nothing to do with the award ceremony, other than some award presenters also had lunch there. Definitely a nice meal, complete with chocolate fountain. The awards ceremony itself was held in Leamy auditorium after lunch.
Graduation Day
I was very nervous about parking and timing. We only had one pass so we crunched 8 people in 6 person car. We were told by others to be on the campus no later than 8:00 or you wouldn't make it to your seat on time. We had people coming in that day and couldn't be there till 9:00. Being ready to go through a security check I took only my wallet, sunscreen, and 1 camera. I made sure I had an ID for my school aged child. When we got there no one checked for parking passes. No one checked for ID, no security check, and no one ever checked tickets. Not to say that it won't happen next year but was this because the President wasn't there? I was confused and felt rather foolish. It all ran very smoothly but maybe info should be a bit more clear so our stress levels can be lower. After we got seated all was wonderful. The ceremony was the best. The weather was great. We couldn't have asked for any better of a day.
Campus opened at 7:30 am, so we sent a couple of people early to get seats. They managed to secure seats under the press box - while this was in full sun during the morning, by the time the ceremony started they were in shade. Signs for graduation parking were in place, but there was some confusion about parking passes - we were given one per family, but it turned out you could have more than one car park. There were buses taking you to campus.
Parking and taking those stupid buses was a nightmare. I happened to park very close by and came back for the rest of my family so they didn't have to wait for the busses b/c we too didn't know we could park additonal cars at Conn College.
What one family did for parking was call a cab. They met with family, left cars at the hotel,
and rode in together.
Even though we were checked out, our hotel
said we could leave our cars and we pooled in one. I thought that was very nice.
Sunscreen and a hat are musts for anything outdoors. A cushion for the bleacher seats is nice. The topmost bleacher seats (under the announcer's booth) will get shade; others will be out in the sun.
The graduation ceremony is fairly long. If you have young children attending, have an escape plan. Have seats on the end of a row, near an exit so an unruly (bored, tired etc.) child can be removed to avoid disturbing those around you.
If anyone has grandparents or other older relatives, I recommend the handicapped seating option. This seating was on the field, to the side, it is covered with fans and a cooler with drinks accessible at all times, they had a great view. You don't need a handicapped sticker to sit here. I got the seats for 2 of my son's grandparents because of knee issues, not even thinking about how hot the stadium might be. They were so comfortable there, the heat didn't bother them at all. I had an extra ticket there for my Dad, but he sat with us and wished he had stayed in the shade! Any relative with conditions that make them sensitive to overheating should consider this option.
After Graduation
Arrange a place to meet after the graduation ceremony. Remember trying to find your swab on R-Day? Graduation is like that. Many families gather at or near the table where their new covers and shoulder boards are. Picking a spot elsewhere on the field may make it easier to find your new ensign.
After the ceremony, the cadets file off and it can take spectators some time to make it down to the field - try to have a meeting place picked out beforehand. Also, your cadets friends might all want to meet in one area, so they can get pictures together.
If you parked off campus, you took a bus to the Academy. For the return trip, we got to the spot where the bus was to pick you up. The line was huge. So we walked back to the parking lot. It cut probably an hour in waiting time at least.
After the ceremony, the crowd for buses was huge, so plan on extra time leaving the academy.
After graduation we had a party at our beach house at Hawks Nest with 4 other families. The caterer we used was from Niantic and did a terrific job including set up, great presentation and lots of tasty food with a great selection. They also delivered on time as promised! Got the cake from the Cake Lady in New London on the way back from graduation. It was very relaxing, a nice way to wrap up the graduation festivities without beiing exhausted, waiting on a line for dinner or busting the budget. Everyone seemed to have a nice time! I would strongly recommend this caterer!
Here's the link to Coffe's Country Market and Deli:
http://www.coffeescountrymarket.com/deli.html
After graduation we all went out to eat at a restaurant on the water.
Stay several days after graduation. Those who haven't been to the area can sightsee. Your cadet can repack, get the car weighed (before and after packing), and everyone can just relax after a busy week of activities.
Pasta Vita - Gourmet to Go has an extensive menu and provided our group with some delicious food for a reasonable price. We ordered the food on Monday and picked it up Tuesday afternoon. It came in large disposable pans ready to pop into the oven to heat up for our party on Wednesday afternoon after the graduation ceremony. Everyone went back for seconds and thirds. We ordered big cookies for dessert and they flew off the plates! Check it out at pastavita.com Plus it is right off I-95 so it is easy to find. My son's host family lives right by Hawk's Nest and they recommended Pasta Vita to us. They said that they get food from there once or twice a week and I believe them. The food is good, reasonably priced, conveniently packaged and true to the description. Pasta Vita - 225 Elm Street - Old Saybrook CT 06475
Miscellaneous
Order tickets early. Events do sell out and people seemed miffed at not being able to get tickets, even though everyone is told in September, and on the order forms that space is limited for some events. Get committment early from family and friends so you know how many tickets you will need. Ordering extra just to be sure only precludes others from obtaining tickets for their groups.
Rent a wheelchair if you have a family member who has limited mobility or who can't walk or stand for long periods. This allowed us to get around campus much more quickly, and we didn't have to worry about finding a bench or place to sit every time we stopped for something, or for the regimental reviews.
We left most graduation presents at home to avoid the hassle of air transport. We did bring cards and one small gift for a celebration on grad day, but now we have an excuse to party again once everyone gets home.
An alternative to attending the baccalaureate service at the Chapel is to attend services at the local house of worship your daughter/son attended while at the Academy. For some denominations, it may be possible to do both. In our case, it wasn't and our cadet opted to attend her local church since it was her last opportunity to do so.
The schedule is pretty full, and the cadets have to be on campus for a couple of reviews (sunday evening and Tuesday morning) - it seems that all the cadets want to do is spend time with their friends - many of them sleep at the academy most nights, and visit their friends homes and hotels for get togethers.
Don't forget your digital battery charger!
We ordered the graduation banner that is offered on the Association website and I highly recommend it. It looked great, our son was so surprised to see it when he arrived home and we received many compliments on it.
Go to everything that has been planned. We did and we enjoyed it all. That is why you are there. It was such a special time and we treasure all the memories.