Heat not too bad for grads

Reynolds crowds prepared for worst

RALEIGH -- The crowd had been warned, and it arrived Saturday at the non-air-conditioned Reynolds Coliseum at N.C. State University ready to stick to seats, mop brows and gulp water.

But as the high school graduation ceremonies whizzed by -- most ended in about an hour -- families and graduates found it wasn't sweltering. The weather, with highs in the mid-80s and a breeze, was at times delightful.

Winston Brooks, like others at the midafternoon Wakefield High ceremony, arrived at Reynolds prepared for heat. He wore a short-sleeve shirt, brought a towel and a straw fan and, like everyone else, had a bottle of water. He never used the towel.

"We came expecting the worst," said Brooks, who watched his grandson, Reginald "Scott" Brooks, graduate. "But it wasn't that bad."

Wake schools usually use the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center downtown for graduation exercises. But the center was demolished, and the new one won't open until 2008. Dorton Arena at the State Fairgrounds was ruled out because of traffic from the flea market, and the RBC Center couldn't guarantee specific dates because of the hockey playoffs.

Several schools that have smaller senior classes got to use the air-conditioned Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.

But for schools graduating about 400 or more students, such as Wakefield, Garner and Leesville Road, only Reynolds Coliseum could accommodate the crowds.

After last month's Southeast Raleigh High graduation at Reynolds, where broken exhaust fans made for a hot and humid ceremony, Wake school officials suggested people dress comfortably and be prepared to sweat. The university brought in 10,000 bottles of water to sell this weekend.

On Saturday, most parents wore shorts, khakis, polo shirts and sundresses. Observers in the balcony used programs as fans, and a few even toted mini battery-powered fans.

Some traditionalists took a chance on wearing their summer finest.

Lucille Dawson, who wore a dress suit, said she had traveled from south Georgia to see her granddaughter, Aijá Mack, don a purple robe and receive her diploma from Leesville Road High.

For Dawson, the stuffy air wasn't a problem.

"I really didn't mind it," Dawson said. "Because I was here for a very special reason."

Down on the gym floor, sitting under bright lights in caps and long gowns, graduates had a different take.

Made of a synthetic fabric that is anything but cool, the heavy robes proved to be hot regardless of what graduates wore under them.

"This thing traps heat," said David Lane, flapping the collar of his Leesville High graduation robe. "It's like a furnace."

Chelsee Carswell had donned a lightweight sundress under her black Wakefield High robe. She removed the robe moments after the ceremony and described the dress as "sticking to me."

Fellow Wakefield grad Marcus Hodges agreed the robes were hot. But at least one thing helped.

"It was short and sweet and to the point," Hodges said of the graduation. "A very good ceremony."