Wrapping it up at Lee Street and Giving Thanks

Following the Engineering blowout, we had some dinner in downtown Blacksburg (already looking a bit empty) and then made our last trip to Lee Street. Craig had a few (thousand) boxes to load, but in between the our car, Mom and Dad's, and Craig's, everything fit. Of course we did not stick around to see the real drama of Brooke packing everything into her car!

After carrying out the last boxes, we visited a Blacksburg restaurant for a last beverage in town. When we asked the waitress to described the taste of the local brew, she said "it's from Floyd County". I guess that pretty well summed it up.

The next morning we journeyed to Salem / Roanoke to Christ Lutheran Church to join Stephen in the worship service. This is the church where Stephen and Betsy have been serving since last August. This was Mom and Dad's first chance to witness Stephen "in action" in this church and we were thrilled they could join us. Even Brooke and Craig arrived just before the service began, so they get extra points for going above and beyond on the day after graduation.

After the service we met up with Betsy (who serves as choir director / organist at another Lutheran church in the area) and enjoyed lunch at the famous Mac and Bobs. It was great to see everyone one last time and reflect on the joys of the weekend.

The Engineers Go Wild!

It was a little easier to find Craig on the basketball court as opposed to the football field the night before. It helped that the graduates wandered in on their own rather than in a procession. We arrived in plenty of time to get a choice seat in order to keep a good eye on Craig. Jacob went exploring before the ceremony began and returned with some nice cups of shaved ice. They came in handy because it was a bit balmy in the arena. For those of you who are still recovering from the Stephen and Betsy / Lenoir Rhyne blast furnance, this wasn't nearly that hot.

The professors and department heads arrived in a formal procession and meanwhile Jacob relocated to another part of the arena. Craig had provided him with a medium sized air horn and we told him he could use it only if he was away from us. If you look closely at the picture below, he is sitting in the top most upper regions of the stands, directly under a bright light. And yes, when Craig was announced, Jacob blared the air horn several times. Mitzi will testify that Jacob was not the first person to let loose with an air horn that day.

Here's the big moment with Craig's name being announcing and him striding across the stage.

After the ceremony concluded, we all moved over to one of Craig's engineering buildings to join a reception held for his Industrial Engineering group. A big welcoming area was filled with the project posters created by each group in the Senior Design class. Craig's group had documented best practices in a General Electric facility and placed highly in the judging of all the projects.

Below is Craig with his Senior Design professor.

After the Industrial Engineering reception we posed for a great photo op in front of the burgundy VE hedges across from the War Memorial.

Craig's Graduation - The Big Event + Saturday early

After about a thousand rounds of Pomp and Circumstance (played exquisitely by the Hokie Symphonic Orchestra) all the graduates were finally into the stadium and aligned in the 3,600 seats (count'em!). After several false sightings, we finally located Craig, thanks to the magic of cell phones. Can you find Craig in the picture below? He stands on the 45 yard line (approximately) in the middle section, conveniently on the aisle closest to us. He's the one talking on the cell phone, looking up at the stands and shielding his eyes. That's three rows from the back. Once everyone was situated and had called all their friends and relatives, the show began! The mace came in, and then the mace went out. In between we heard a bunch of speeches from various dignitaries representing a large number of groups at Virginia Tech. We learned that the graduates were now alumni, that they did not have to pay dues, and they got to keep their email addresses for life. The Governor of Virginia received good rating for his speech, while the others tended to drone on a bit long as we wondered if the rain would ever make an appearance.

As if by divine guidance, the ceremony ended, we reflected on the awesomeness of the evening while still in our $100 seats, and the rain began. No photos of the rain, you'll have to take our word for it.

We regrouped at Lee St. and decided to call it a night.

The next morning we reconvened in Christiansburg, witht the thought of avoiding the crush of luncheon parties in Blacksburg. As we drove around Christiansburg randomly in three cars, converging from three directions, Craig decided our actual luncheon location in real time. Somehow we all ended up at O'Charleys and enjoyed a wonderful lunch.

After lunch we headed back to Blacksburg and got ready for the Main Event - the Engineering Department graduation, where Craig would actually have his name called, walk across the stage, and pick up that precious diploma.

Craig's Graduation - Day One (Friday)

Craig's graduation day with us began at his humble abode on Lee Street where we connected with him and Brooke. After reflecting on the surroundings and being thankful that Craig was moving out of Lee St. soon, we headed for our first event of the day...the fraternity barbeque. The event was held at the "upscale Lee Street", a house rented by four of Craig's frat brothers. We ate enough barbeque to last us through the evening, and that was before we found the Hokie cookies. Everyone agreed the cookies were the best, but we limited ourselves to one. After all, there was also cake and chocolate chip cookies. We also engaged in a few highly competitive rounds of "corn hole", which apparently is what people in Blacksburg do in their spare time.

We had some time before Mitzi and Roland were due in, so we made a tour of Brooke's studio in the Architecture Building, and trapsed around that part of campus. We ended up by the duck pond and fortunately Jacob controlled himself long enough for the ducks to escape.

Then Mitzi and Roland arrived, we returned to Lee St., reflected a bit, then decided we needed to head to Lane Stadium before all the parking spots were taken. We paused for some pictures outside the stadium, and then Craig got the text message...due to the weather, the event was delayed for an hour. We looked around, a few clouds but no rain. We decided to go on into the stadium, where Nancy had her hidden sandwiches discovered by the guard (who was apparently in charge of protecting the profits of the one concession stand open in the entire stadium).

We grabbed the best seats in the house, right on the 50 yard line, seat back benches nonetheless! If only the Hokies were playing, these would have gone for $100 each! As it was, we waited patiently, watched the workers covering the platform with plastic, searched the skies for a real threat of rain, and connected with Craig via cell phone.

Finally after our extra hour wait (no rain, no lightning, nice breeze) the entrance of the graduates began!