Great turnout, plenty of fun at Project Graduation

Tent Party photo booth fun with, from left, Coleen Grady and Kelly Ann Livingstone.

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — According to co-chairwoman Tania Liddy, nearly all Glen Ridge High School graduates this year made it to the “Toy Story”-themed tent party. She said 135 of the 142 students were there.

It was an evening of games at the tent party, sandwiched in between a dinner dance at the country club and a pool party to 5 a.m. About one-half the class made it to that.

In the past, the graduates had attended the Nevada Diner,
in Bloomfield, but not this year.

At the tent party, there was a bungee run, where students ran attached to a bungee cord, and there also was basketball and ping pong to play. Also sticky dodge.

Karaoke with, from left, Charlie Deluca, Judah Raab, Sean Callaghan, Jimmy Hausmann and Kyle Mason.

Parents were necessary to keep everything running smoothly. Liddy said about 20 grownups attended the dinner dance; 40 to 50 were at the tent party; and 10 made it to the pool. A breakfast of cheese and eggs was served at the last station.
Now that it is all over, the ornaments and props from the tent party were headed for the Gas Lamp Players, Linden Avenue School or the curb.

Liddy said with three more children graduating in the years ahead she is not done with Project Graduation. She graduated herself from GRHS and remembers the theme was “Safari” that year.

“It’s changed a lot since then,” she said. “It’s a great memory.”
Co-chairing Project Graduation 2017 with Liddy was Lana Koppel.