‘Star Wars’ Party was a big hit

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Imaginative parents of some Glen Ridge High School 2016 graduates did their own star turn last week when they created a “Star Wars”-themed party for Project Graduation. The event is an annual celebration in three parts for students following the graduation ceremony.

Sandwiched between a dinner-dance at the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge and an early morning pool party, the “Star Wars” party lasted from midnight to 3 a.m. It was a fun-filled display of invention. The co-chairwomen of the 2016 Project Graduation were Laura Buchmann and Beth Barry.

The kids were given a taste of “Star Wars” at the door to the Women’s Club where two giant light sabers, at least 15 feet tall and their tips almost touching, formed a ritualized entrance to the evening ahead. In a telephone interview, Buchmann said the sabers were created by Marge Kallies at her home using cement, cardboard, plastic and cellophane.
The dinner-dance was from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m.

But now to the party.
It was held at the Ridgewood Avenue home of Tami and Guy Kinley. All the kids were given a “Star Wars” T-shirt with design on the front and their name on the back.
“You walk up the driveway and there were two lightsabers,” Buchmann said of the party entrance.

She said there was also a swamp scene in the driveway which was “Yoda’s Swamp,” a character and locale from the encyclopedic “Star Wars” franchise.

On the driveway was a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a seating area with a video screen. The screen presented a moving scroll, readily familiar to fans as the opening “Star Wars” scroll, listing the names of the graduates.

“It was like you were walking into a ‘Star Wars’ movie,” Buchmann said.
Behind the video screen was a Velcro wall and Velcro suits for the kids to don and jump onto the wall, sticking. A tent covered most the Kinley yard.

“Games spilled out of it,” Buchmann said of the tent.
Prizes for the graduates included a Macintosh laptop, TVs, a Keurig coffee maker, a small refrigerator, duffel bags and head phones.

“Things for dorm rooms,” Buchmann said.
In a smaller tent, blackjack, roulette, craps and poker were played.

There were also actors. They were dressed as characters from the cantina scene from the first “Star Wars.”
“Older kids that we tipped,” Buchmann said of the actors. “They were great.”
There was also a picture of the interior of the Millennium Falcon, the spaceship of Hans Solo and Chewbacca, two “Star Wars” characters.

“Someone actually drew that,” Buchmann said. “Pretty cool.”
A bar served green lemonade and theme-related munchies, including “may the cheese be with you” cheese; Wookie cookies; Obi Wan Kenobi fruit; and sweet and salty sabers, which were chocolate-covered pretzels.

“There was nothing inside the Kinley house,” Buchmann said of the party props.
Of the 130 students who graduated, she said 123 went to the dinner-dance, 121 to the “Star Wars” party and 112 to the pool party.

The “Star Wars” constructions were gone by early the next day. They were broken down between 10 a.m and noon.

“Some stuff we disassembled, some things people wanted,” Buchmann said. “We have a lot of creative and talented people. Everything was made by parents.”
She credited Mayat Doherty with coming up with the overall “Star Wars” plan.
May the force be with you.