There are 265 Austin High School seniors who are preparing to set sail on the trip of a lifetime.

Wednesday, May 10, 2000

There are 265 Austin High School seniors who are preparing to set sail on the trip of a lifetime.

Cruise 2000 departs immediately after the AHS class of 2000 graduates June 8.

The Project Graduation committee is working hard to make the after-graduation party for AHS seniors the best in the nine-year history of the drug- and alcohol-free event.

Tickets went on sale May 1 at $30 each. On the night of the party, the price goes up to $40.

Those seniors who register by Friday will be eligible to win one of five cash prizes of $30, $20 and $10 in the annual early bird drawing.

"This is a chance to spend one last fun-filled evening with your classmates, enjoy good food and entertainment and receive free gifts," said Pearl Schieck, who with her husband, Dr. Joel Schieck, are sharing co-chair couple duties with Bob and Sue Maus.

The Schiecks are parents of one of the AHS class of 2000’s members, son Tanner, and the Mauses also have a graduating senior this year, son Kevin.

The mothers said plans are moving along finely for the Project Graduation committee this year with commencement only four weeks away.

This year, there is no raffle, so the committee members are scrambling to make up the estimated $2,500 in lost revenue.

According to Maus and Schieck, that obstacle can be overcome with the generosity of sponsors.

The events begin immediately following commencement June 8 at Riverside Arena. Cruise 2000 guests will enter the AHS gymnasium lobby decorated for the ninth straight year by Roger and Elaine Kvam.

All three AHS gyms will be used as well as five classrooms.

With a graduating class of 265 members, the organizers expect more than 225 to attend. Pacelli High School seniors and home-school seniors also have been invited.

No students will be admitted after 11:30 p.m. June 8 and when a student leaves, they cannot be readmitted.

"The idea is to provide safe entertainment for the seniors," Maus said.

Participating seniors will be issued passports to visit different counties, including France, Mexico, South America and the United States, including Hawaii.

Food and refreshments will be served throughout the evening and when the party-ending breakfast is served 4 to 5 a.m. June 9, gift baskets will be distributed with items worth $25.

Five grand prizes will be awarded and there will be many other opportunities for smaller prize drawings.

The entertainment goes from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

There will be a sketch artist, plus digital computer image making. There will be team challenges and a bunge run and Velcro wall to climb. Roulette, blackjack and slot machines will tempt the gamblers among the graduates.

Lisa Nelson of Lauren’s On First Salon once again will bring Riverland Community College cosmetology students to the party to provide manicures, makeovers, hair-styling, hot wax treatments (for men and women) and temporary tattoos.

At 2:30 a.m. June 9, the most popular single act of any Project Graduation takes center stage: a hypnotist.

Still to be named, this year’s hypnotist will have videos made of the seniors performing, so they can see the morning after how silly they looked, while under the spell.

There also will be karoke for the budding entertainers among the class of 2000.

And, even hale and hearty young men and women run out of energy eventually. That’s why there will be a "resting room," where the graduates can watch videos or snooze until breakfast.

Bruce Loeschen and his AHS art students will perform their magic at decorating the rooms for the after-graduation fun.

The graduates are invited to bring along regular cameras video cameras to record the night’s activities.

Among the grand prizes to be awarded are mountain bikes for a male and a female, including one donated by Rydjor Bike Shop and a color television donated by Kmart in Austin, plus a VCR, camping equipment and Tommy Hilfiger bedding.

According to Maus and Schieck, there are 22 committee chairmen who have been working on the Cruise 2000 plans since January. Now, they are meeting every other Sunday, beginning at 5 p.m. at St. Edward’s Catholic Church and more parent-volunteers are welcome to participate.

The organizers need more parents to volunteer to work one of the three shifts for the Project Graduation fun.

Donations are coming in from a long list of supporters as well as some new ones. The Austin Packer Backer Booster Club and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1216 have contributed, but new this year is Lyle American Legion Post No. 105.

"We need the continued support we have enjoyed in years past as well as more support this year to make up for the revenue loss and continue what we’ve been doing," Schieck said. (For more information about making a donation, call Jerry Adwell, Project Graduation’s committee treasurer, at 433-7650, or Keith Fleming, AHS administrative assistant, at 433-0408.

Maus said the Cruise 2000 party is the graduates’ last night together and an "opportunity to say ‘goodbye’ to each other."

Schieck said anticipation for the party is building and that the after-commencement fun has become part of every senior’s graduating plans.

On Tuesday, Brian Strom, president of the AHS senior class, told his peers when they posed for their informal picture together to support the party.

Now, it is up to the seniors to do their part: sign up.

Maus and Schieck also advised that no senior will be denied admission due to an inability to pay and that any senior facing such dire straits should contact Fleming at AHS.

The Mauses and the Schiecks also praised their successors for next year’s after-graduation party, Ron and Eileen Wiebelhaus and Joe and Cindy Fuhrman.

Most of their praise was directed at all of the participating parent-volunteers as well as the AHS custodial staff and buildings and grounds crew workers.

Maus summed it up with the reminder, "It’s a night of safe entertainment and a time for nostalgia and fun that they will never have again."

For more information about helping organizers of Cruise 2000, contact the Mauses at 437-2408 or the Schiecks at 433-5059.