History happens tonight.

Friday, May 26, 2000

History happens tonight.

Some time after all the speeches are given, all the scholarships awarded, all the pictures are taken and tassels flipped from left to right on the mortarboard caps, the first high school graduate of the millennium in Mower County will receive a diploma.

The class of 2000 has been under close observation for years now. Beginning with the second grade, the boys and girls were labeled because of a quirk of the calendar.

When the end came of a decade, century and millennium and the calendar’s 1999 numbers rolled over to Y2K, the graduates would step forth into history as the first to conclude their secondary education in the new thousand years cycle.

After tonight’s commencements, the Memorial Day weekend will, once again, be made more memorable and for a different reason.

Southland, LeRoy-Ostrander and Hayfield will graduate their members of the class of 2000 Sunday and so will St. Ansgar, Iowa.

Chances are the first graduate from Mower County in the new millennium will be a member of the Grand Meadow graduating class.

Commencement exercises begin one hour earlier – 7 p.m. – at Grand Meadow than at Lyle tonight.

Who will that be? Every high school confers diplomas alphabetically, but this year there are no graduates with a last name beginning with an "A" in the Grand Meadow senior class. Thus, Sarah Baldus, daughter of Lon and Susan Baldus and the GMHS valedictorian, should be the first teen-ager to graduate high school in the new millennium in Mower County.

Grand Meadow

No less than 18 members of the Grand Meadow High School class of 2000 have earned honor student status this year.

They all recorded cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better.

That’s more than 50 percent of the 35 members of the Super Larks class of 2000.

The GMHS honor students are: Sarah Baldus, Bradley Buschmann, Tristan Davis, Kimberly Durst,Graduation

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Angela Fretty, Jacob Gehling, Jennifer Gehling, Jered Gehling, Kristy Gehling, Angela Holst, Clinton Jones, Libby Rath, Russell Schaalma, Kristen Schubert, Lisa Skifter, Ben Thorsen, Kristin Vogt and Rebecca Weelborg.

Dressed in their gowns and mortarboard caps, chances are identical twins Jacob and Jered Gehling could fool a few people tonight when it’s time for picture-taking.

The future-minded graduates chose for their class motto: "The future is what you make it."

The graduating seniors chose popular teacher-coach Al Carlson to give the commencement address.

A group of graduates, as well as the responses from the valedictorian and salutatorian, also will be heard.

Lyle

Commencement exercises for the Lyle High School class of 2000 begins at 8 tonight in the school gymnasium.

Twenty-five young men and women will receive diplomas tonight.

Lauren Nelson is valedictorian of the LHS graduating class. Honor students are: Alex Wendorf, Julie Rugg and Joshua Kunze.

Reflecting the passing of time, the seniors chose a contemplative motto: "As each of us follows our path in life, we will remember these years. We will remember our friends, the laughter and the pain. Our smiles reflect the memories locked deep within our hearts. We have grown so much, and yet, we will grow forever."

There will be short addresses from the class valedictorian and salutatorian, but the highlight of the night may be a special slide show of senior class memories.

LeRoy-Ostrander

Valedictorian Clint Hodgdon and salutatorian Jolene Keim will give the commencement addresses Sunday afternoon when LeRoy-Ostrander High School’s class of 2000 graduates.

Commencement exercises begin 2 p.m. Sunday in the school gymnasium.

Forty-one seniors will receive high school diplomas, scholarships will be awarded, the student-athlete of the year honor bestowed and other honors conferred on the LOHS class.

The class motto reflects the closeness of the graduates: "We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other."

Southland

Southland’s 72 seniors will receive their diplomas in commencement exercises beginning 2 p.m. Sunday in the high school gymnasium in Adams.

Gerald Wellik, founder of LSI Inc. and a former area resident and graduate, will give the commencement address.

Wellik is credited with starting the Southland school district’s successful scholarship program in 1987.

Spectators will see some changes in this year’s commencement program. New music and new tricolored gowns for the graduates are among them.

As Southland’s class of 2000 prepares for its future, the graduates are not forgetting the past. The class motto is: "Our past is behind us, but our memories are forever with us."

Hayfield

Hayfield High School’s commencement exercises begin at 2 p.m. Sunday in the school gymnasium.

Jodi Johnston, daughter of Dennis and Debra Johnson, is the class valedictorian.

The Hayfield class of 2000 has three salutatorians: Tony Kramer, son of Tom and LaVae Kramer; Melissa Stewart, daughter of Mark and Marie Stewart; and Kelly Thompson, daughter of Richard and Merna Thompson.

St. Ansgar

The other area commencement Sunday will be at St. Ansgar, Iowa.

Commencement exercises for the Saints’ class of 2000 begin at 2 p.m. Sunday in the school gymnasium.

The seniors chose the rainbow as their official class color for commencement and also showed a sense of humor in selecting a class motto. The Saints’ class motto is: "The older you get, the better you get, unless you are a banana."