Community graduation interrupted by A/C unit failure

Community High School's class of 2009 will be remembered as the last class of seniors to graduate from the 84-year-old Unionville site, but it will be remembered for another reason, too.

"They'll be remembered as the ones who blew up the gym," said principal Robert Ralston with a chuckle during his introduction to the graduation ceremony Friday night.

Prior to the ceremony, the standing-room only crowd was evacuated because one of four air conditioning units in the gym gave up the ghost, spewing freon-like smoke into the air.

After the situation was assessed by fire department personnel and determined not to pose any danger, the crowd was let back in and the ceremony took place.

The school graduated 106 seniors, according to school officials, a class that was also recognized as the highest academically achieving class in the school's history.

Community alumna and school board member Amy Martin spoke to the graduates, telling a story about the first graduating class, which consisted of one individual in 1926, and the class of 1929, which consisted of the first 17 graduates who attended the school all four years.

The last three of that class died last year, she said, leaving behind "a legacy that will endure through time."

She encouraged the Class of 2009 to "leave here to chase the rainbows of life and to capture those pots of gold" along the way.

A new Community High School will open this fall on a site across Unionville-Deason Road from the current campus, and the middle school will expand to take up the space at the current campus left behind by the high school.