my campaign to help 1 of my former high school's graduating class's ceremonies get "entertained"

Let's make this...

A few weeks ago, the following article appeared in 1 of my local newspapers:

CLIFTON — Clifton High School seniors still don't know for sure where they will be receiving their diplomas with four months until graduation day.

The 711 seniors will not be taking the field at Clifton Stadium, as in past years, as it will be under renovation to upgrade the facilities.

District officials said they are currently working on a plan.

On Jan. 15, by an 8 to 1 vote, the Board of Education approved a highly-anticipated renovation to the Stadium that includes a new track along with an artificial turf field. If preliminary steps go smoothly construction will begin in April. The project is expected to take five months, displacing the June 26 graduation ceremony.

At the January public meeting Superintendent of Schools Richard Tardalo said graduation will probably take place at either the Meadowlands' Izod Center or Yogi Berra Stadium at Montclair State University, with Izod being the first choice.

Passaic County Tech is a site that has been mentioned as well.

Last week, Tardalo said he is waiting on a written contract from representatives from the Izod Center. In December he estimated the cost near "$20,000" to rent the 19,000 seat arena.

Senior student Robert Lupo, who is also president of the CHS Student Government, said he and classmates initially hoped graduation could still be held at Clifton Stadium.

"We are coming to terms with it," Lupo said. "Now everybody wants Izod. That way we can have our entire families there."

Lupo said he has not heard anyone from his class say that they would prefer Yogi Berra Stadium.

"If we don't get Izod people are going to be unhappy," Lupo said.

The Student Government discussed the issue with Tardalo.

Clifton resident Val Riggi has a son, Anthony, in the class of 2014. She had the experience of watching her older son Robert graduate from Paramus Catholic at the Izod Center in 2009.

"It was beautiful," Riggi said. "I had 14 family members with me. We were relaxed, sitting in air conditioning, watching my son on the big screen."

"High school graduation is an important stepping stone in a family's life and you want to celebrate that with as many people as possible," she said.

Riggi said she was very pleased with the parking and handicap accessibility of the arena.

"To me, it's worth every penny," she said. "And you don't have to worry if the weather is good or not."

In the past, inclement weather has moved graduation to the CHS auditorium where students are afforded two tickets each for a crowded and sometimes uncomfortable ceremony. The auditorium has not been mentioned as a possibility for this year.

Yogi Berra Stadium is outdoors and weather would pose the same problem.

Board President Gary Passenti said in January that a multi-year deal with Izod could provide a cheaper rate.

That opens the possibility of moving the Clifton graduation ceremony away from Clifton Stadium for more than just 2014.

"I felt like a weatherman all week," Passenti said in January, referring to last year's graduation. "We had to move up the event two hours early because of the threat of storms and some people missed the graduation altogether."

Lupo, who is heading to The College of New Jersey in the fall, said that above all he and his classmates do not want to graduate at another school.

"That would be embarrassing," he said.

"We want to start our own tradition."

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/246476321_District_finalizing_Clifton_High_School_grad_ceremony_specifics.html?page=all#sthash.6MnV1Gpy.dpuf

Just a few days ago, a few weeks after that article, I sent the following e-mail to 1 of my freshman year of college professors (who, judging by his looks & personality, is the last person I'm sure most of you people would suspect of liking "top 40"-type pop music), after mentioning my Japan plans to him:

Closer to home, however, my (former) high school could very well move its 2014 graduation ceremony from the 57-year-old stadium scheduled to undergo total renovations this summer to the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, either on a one-time-only deal (just this year) or perhaps in multiple years! Either way, I haven't been back inside that arena since all of its professional sports tenants moved elsewhere over the past few years, and if everything gets timed correctly, I'm sure there could be an impromptu performance either before or after (most likely after) the ceremony, since there will be quite a few tours passing through the Garden State in late June, if the people back at my (former) high school are able (and willing) to mobilize some sort of organized effort of some kind to get one, or perhaps more than one, of those groups to notice and make the trip to East Rutherford on (relatively) short notice! I know what you're probably thinking... seems like some rather lofty set of goals for a simple graduation ceremony, but since it's a public school moving its graduation ceremony from its home stadium to a 20,000-seat arena for what is, as of right now, a one-time-only deal, why not make it somewhat more "special" than the typical graduation ceremony, given the circumstances?

Finally, a relevant quote from 1 of the NFL's greatest head coaches:

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."  ~ Super Bowl trophy "namesake" Vince Lombardi

The following links lead to articles about "promposals", instead of "graduation invitations", but I still consider the 2 to be more similar than you might think!

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/espn-beadle-accepts-prom-invite-paralyzed-teen-article-1.1720576

http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/local-high-school-student-asks-victorias-secret-model-prom-viral-video-13993.shtml

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569048/If-works-I-love-Flustered-Olympic-medallist-Gracie-Gold-accepts-video-prom-date-proposal-high-school-student-surprises-interview.html

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24471063/twitter-prom-proposal-leads-to-date-with-texans-cheerleader

http://www.click2houston.com/news/nfl-player-takes-houston-teen-to-prom/25453796

After all, as we've all seen over the past few days, weeks, & even months, contrary to popular belief, it seems as if getting certain celebrities (of one's personal choosing, that is) invited to certain events is the easy part instead of the hard 1; it seems as if getting the wherewithal & getting enough people to support one's efforts to get 1 of those people to some special event such as homecoming/prom/graduation/etc. is the hardest part of all! That being said, if individual people have managed to pull off something like that & successfully invite a celebrity with whom they are particularly enamored, then I'm even more convinced that, judging by the class of 2014's confidence & willingness to "start (its) own tradition", I'll be able to be part of a successful campaign to get a special & private, most likely post-grad ceremony, performance by some well-known solo artist, group, or perhaps an entire group featuring another solo performer, on the last Thursday night in June in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.!

An additional thought: I hope this doesn't narrow down the possibilities too much, but I would prefer some "narrowing down" instead of the "organized chaos" most campaigns seem to bring... That being said, I would prefer a combination of the following categories:

1: performer(s) who made his/her/their debut here, which, if you look far & long enough into the "inter webs", isn't as hard as it seems to figure out!

2: performer(s) who will already be around here sometime in June, which should be somewhat easier to find out than "debuts" that occurred anywhere in this state!

3: this might seem implied &/or obvious, but, naturally, performer(s) with the ultimate "connection": being born &/or raised here in the Garden State!

4: how 'bout all the performers out there who've yet to make their debut performances yet?

5: also, & I know this point is virtually the opposite of the previous 4, but let's not make people return here who've already been here so far this year, or who'll be here sometime within the next 3 months, know what I mean? I'm sure most of them wouldn't mind returning here more than once, but why do that when there are so many other venues to play throughout the country, right?

Another additional thought: You people might not think I'm 90-something% serious about this, but I sort of am 90something% serious about this campaign that I'm trying to start here! I mean, it's not as if this is some secret political operation, à la Watergate, or a "hit list" to kill somebody, or some group of people... 1st of all, I would never take part in anything as illegal as either of those situations, & 2nd of all, I already mentioned above that getting the (in this case) performer(s) has been the easier part when compared to getting everybody else to notice... Besides, it's better to go through life with (1) a sense of humor (since who doesn't like that?) & (2) hope that entertaining (& innocent) stuff like this can happen when enough people take notice & come to some sort of consensus (for lack of a better word) as to who the "featured performer" should be at 1 of these types of events!

EDIT: this will be my (un)official slogan these next 3 months!

...look more like this in late June!