Wheeler '74 Seniors to 'Regraduate'

What were you doing in the early summer of 1974?

Gas shortages were still widespread as a recession continued.

Richard Nixon was facing the reality that his presidency was doomed. 

Disco music was all the pop culture rage. 

In East Cobb, on the evening of June 2, at the football stadium, a pop thunderstorm spoiled graduation ceremonies. 

For many in the 425-member of the Class of 1974, they got their diplomas tossed to them rather unceremoniously in the library or cafeteria, depending on their gender. 

As graduate Marc Davis recalled: "My diploma was slung at me like a frisbee."

This coming June 2, 38 years to the day of that stormy, bittersweet night, some of those seniors will be holding a special reunion of sorts to do their graduation right. 

They're calling it a "Regraduation," and all those in the Class of 1974 are invited to take part. 

The guest speakers are former Wheeler English teacher Roger Hines and Cobb Superior Court Judge Tain Kell, Wheeler Class of 1980, and the son of late Wheeler football coach Corky Kell. 

Senior class president Todd Nixon and others have started a website with information about the event, and there's also a Facebook page. 

Most of the event will take place in the Wheeler auditorium, but the night will not be complete until the graduates toss their caps in the air on the football field. 

"This is EPIC!!!! Unprecedented!!!!," wrote Nixon -- Todd, not Richard -- on the Facebook page in encouraging his classmates to turn out. 

“It may seem strange, but after all these years, it still bothers me that our class didn’t receive a proper graduation,” he said. “We missed out on so much – no photos, no thumbs-up by the school principal, no hugs from relatives, no recessional, and – most importantly – no moving of the tassel on our mortar boards from student to graduate!”

The charge for registration is $15 a person and a cap and gown with a Wheeler '74 tassel is $10 a head. DVDs of the ceremony will be available for purchase at a later time. 

For more information contact the above "regraduation" sites or Todd Nixon at 678-492-6732.