The Hartsville High School Graduation that was scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight is now postponed until tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. at the Kellytown Stadium. Students are asked to report to the stadium at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
The serious weather conditions including pouring rain and lots of lightning strikes postponed the graduation.
Original plans were to wait it out as late as 10 p.m., but school officials decided to postpone the ceremony to 9 a.m. Saturday.
If it is still storming, the next time slot is noon Saturday at Kelleytown Stadium. If the rain persists at that point, the final backup plan is 3 p.m. at Center Theater.
Thanks for the update. Sorry if I was too blunt before, but to postpone something like this is serious business and for the people that don’t live there a little more info is helpful. I hope the kids got to have the graduation at Kellytown stadium as that means so much more than having it at the Center Theater.
Yesterday morning, as HHS was answering the phone only with an answering machine, I called the wife of one of the officials. I told her about the weather prediction calling for severe thunderstorms with possiblity of hail around 6 p.m. She said a decision would not be made until “the last minute” on changing the venue to the Center Theater. Well, the rain was well underway at 6 p.m. and most families were not notified of the postponement until 6:30 p.m. Many families had already gone out to Kelleytown by then. I talked to some parents and grandparents who were very upset about the new start time of 9 a.m. Saturday, with seniors to be there at 8. They felt the bleachers would not be dry by then and 10 or 11 a.m. would’ve been a better time to have it. I agree.
If it was at the Center, only immediate family members would be able to attend. Last year’s graduation did have rain before it ended. I think a good location would be the Florence Civic Center.
As the parent of a senior who graduated this year, I am pleased with the way the delays were handled. The students were briefed that morning at the practice what the plans were. As has happened in years passed, the decision to delay or postpone is always made at the last minute possible.
As another parent of a HHS Senior, I was also pleased with how the event was handled. Friday night’s storm was dangerous, and the morning time was better for everyone- and may have been the only cool time to have it. Thank you to the Darlington County School District for dealing with the weather conditions sensibly and responsibly.
My daughter graduated form HHS a few years ago. I do agree it may be confusing for outsiders, but it is made ABUNDANTLY CLEAR to all graduates what the schedule for graduation will be. They plan to start at one time (I think it is 7 pm) and then asses the weather each hour until about 10 pm. At that time they postpone graduation until the next morning, again checking the weather each hour until it becomes apparent that the weather is not going to cooperate. Then they hold the graduation at the Center Theater at 12:00. That is the way graduation is handled every year. The Center Theater is a last resort because it limits the number of family & friends that can attend. The graduates are told all of the times that graduation may be held at practice. All I can say is you just hope for the best. I know people that had family that traveled a good distance, but were not able to stay until the next day. It is not the best scenario, but they do the best they can with what they have. That is all you can ask for. It is unfortunate that people arrived early, which is what I normally choose to do at an event that is important like graduation. But they should have been aware of the situation, and the possibility of postponement by then anyway.
And just my feelings, but when I graduated from Hartsville, then I wanted to graduate in Hartsville, not Florence.
Many, many years ago I proudly walked across the field at Kelleytown Stadium. I loved that the stadium where I spent so many hours marching with the band, running with the track, and cheering at the football games was part of the closing of my high school career.
Next year, however, the school will be able to hold the graduation ceremony in their shiny new gymnasium!
In 1974, we graduated in the gym because of weather. What will the capacity of the new gym be?
Is there a reason for this? I don’t live there so I don’t know what could cause this. Very poor job of reporting. I read it in the Florence Morning News on-line and it said the same. I thought maybe HVTD would expand on the reason. Its like reading an article saying ” Person killed in automobile accident”. End of story. ?????????????? DUH