By MIKE FERGUSON

Baker City Herald

It rained at one point uncomfortably hard but lightning never threatened to push Sunday’s Baker High School graduation ceremony indoors.

The weather did necessitate some improvising. Rather than dampen their instruments further, the band rendered the recessional as a simple drum duet. The senior farewell song Lynyrd Skynyrd’s andquot;Free Bird,andquot; a guitar and bass duet performed by Garn Brady and Don Everson was scheduled before it began to even sprinkle, so no worries over the duo plugging in.

Family members and friends packed Bulldog Memorial Stadium and shook off the downpour to watch as 147 members of the Class of 2008 listened to speeches, shook their principal’s hand, received their diploma and then threw their mortarboards high into the soggy heavens to celebrate what they set out to do together as kindergartners in 1995.

andquot;It’s hard to fathom that span of 13 years,andquot; said lanky co-valedictorian Jared Brickman, who noted not only that gasoline was $1.15 per gallon that year and the best picture Oscar went to andquot;Forrest Gump,andquot; but that andquot;I could fit into Playland at McDonald’s.andquot;

There’s just one problem with leaving the nest that’s been Baker High School, he told his fellow graduates: andquot;We no longer have the luxury of going to school for free.andquot;

Fellow valedictorian Monica Boyer spoke of her admiration for people who worked hard to accomplish Herculean tasks, including Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to scale Mount Everest, and American soccer legend Mia Hamm.

Fledgling soccer players can’t be the next Hamm just by wishing it, Boyer said. Rather, as young players they should vow, andquot;I want to train as hard and as long as I can so in 10 years I can be the next Mia Hamm.andquot;

andquot;She wasn’t born the greatest soccer player ever,andquot; Boyer said, andquot;but she became it. We can choose to live extraordinary lives.andquot;

Salutatorian Sarah Harris told her classmates not to rely on the bromide, andquot;Next year will be better.andquot;

andquot;We often try to speed through our lives,andquot; she said. andquot;We look forward to our senior year, and then we yearn for it to be over.andquot;

This year, as it turned out, andquot;is just as good or better as next year will be,andquot; Harris said. andquot;Tomorrow will come soon enough.andquot;

Mingo Vidrio, a 1992 Baker High School graduate who’s served in the Marine Corps, as a Baker City police officer and finally as an attorney, delivered the commencement address.

When he earned his diploma 16 years ago, things weren’t much different than they are today George Bush sat in the Oval Office, a Clinton andquot;was trying desperately to get elected,andquot; and Nintendo had a hot new game out, he said.

Vidrio told the graduates he wouldn’t be their commencement speaker andquot;if I accepted the advice and the statistics I was given.andquot;

Sometimes there wasn’t enough money for food. He recalled diving into Dumpsters outside grocery stores, searching for day-old bread.

andquot;The hard part,andquot; he recalled, choking on the thought, andquot;was when people recognized us.andquot;

A grocery store clerk once advised a co-worker andquot;to watch that kid (Vidrio). He’s one of those who will likely steal.andquot;

Vidrio said the first thing he wanted to do as a newly hired cop in his hometown was andquot;show that clerk what I’d become.andquot;

andquot;People say they know your type, but I encourage you to prove them wrong,andquot; he said. andquot;People like me don’t become lawyers people like me are defended by lawyers.andquot;

andquot;Do you have two strikes against you? You’re not alone,andquot; Vidrio added. andquot;You can’t help where you came from, but you control the direction you’re going.andquot;

While attaining his dream of passing the bar and becoming a lawyer came about because of hard work and perseverance, full credit goes to teachers who believed in him, he said, including Barbara Gornick and Mike Siewell.

andquot;I wish I could say I was resilient, but it’s not something I was born with,andquot; Vidrio said. andquot;Those teachers said I was smart and had unlimited potential, and those were foreign concepts for me at the time. I wasn’t particularly gifted, but I’ve been blessed by a lot of folks willing to give me a chance.andquot;

Members of the Class of 2008 can either wait for their opportunity or they can envision their own future and even embrace a new vision if the first one doesn’t work out, he said.

andquot;You’re entitled,andquot; Vidrio said, andquot;to more than one dream.andquot;