Rained on Their Parade

We hear that it poured on the graduates of Bloomfield High School tonight, forcing them to cut short their commencement ceremony.

La Fem over at NJ.com’s Bloomfield Forum writes:

I was down at Foley Field tonight for my next door neighbor’s daughter. The rain started coming down just about the time the procession reached JFK. They filed in to the south end of the field and stopped there for a few minutes, almost as if they weren’t sure they were going to come onto the field. The board members entered from under the stands and took their positions up near the dais, getting drenched. That seemed to signal the procession to continue and enter the field.
The kids took it in stride and seemed to revel in it, a “you can’t stop us” attitude. The ceromonies were cut short because of the lightning, had it just been rain I think they would have all continued.
It’s too bad they don’t have a backup plan.

There was a silver lining, however. ShockedMom tells about a school board member who played Good Samaritan:

I have got to tell you this story. My nephew graduated tonight and my mother and father came down from upstate NY for the graduation. They did not bring umbrellas with them and we didn’t bring enough along for everyone. My mother is 75 years old.
While I was talking to some friends from school under the stands, my mother went up into the stands. When I got to her she had an umbrella. I asked her where she got it and she said that while she was standing in the rain some man came up to her and offered her his. She started to say no but he insisted, saying it was no problem, he had another.
While we were watching the graduates enter the field, my mother saw the man who gave her the umbrella and pointed him out to me.
It was one of the Board members, Mr. Zelinski, standing there in suit and tie, soaking wet, clapping for the graduates as they entered, without an umbrella. What a nice gesture, he made part of our rainy day bright and sunny.

Picture anyone?
Will Glen Ridge (Friday night) or Montclair (Tuesday night) be any luckier? According to the weather report, there’s a chance of thunderstorms both nights.