A Few Facts on Braintree High's All-Night Party Ahead of Trivia Night

Later this month, the Braintree High School All Night Grad Party Committee will host a fundraiser at Town Hall, featuring beer, wine and trivia.

Ahead of the event scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 25, and in honor of the night's theme, Braintree Patch has tossed a few questions about the graduation party toward organizing chair Laurie McGuire.

Like a late round of trivia, at least one question proved more difficult to answer than the others, but McGuire was a good sport and provided her responses below.

Sign up for Trivia Night by emailing braintreehighschoolgradparty@gmail.com.

When was the first all-night grad party and how did it get started?  

I am guessing this is the 21st year. [Editor's note: McGuire said she asked about a dozen people and no one seemed to know for sure what year it started and who was responsible for organizing it. Feel free to share in the comment section at the bottom if you've got the answers.]

The committee begins planning in October for the following calendar year's graduation. What is the biggest challenge in planning the party?

Fundraising, Fundraising, Fundraising. To truly make this event a night to remember in the lives of our graduating seniors, the event costs between $14,000 and $16,000.

The set-up, breakdown and clean-up also require a lot of help. However, the night would not be possible if we can't raise the money.

What is your mix of parent volunteers? Mainly parents of seniors, or freshmen and sophomores as well?

What we would like to see is more underclassmen parents getting involved, specifically juniors, sophomores and even the freshman parent who has been down this road before.

Parents of seniors have a very busy year ahead of them with college preparation and graduation activities, and as much as we value their help and contributions, our goal is to attract more parents of underclassmen.

You have several fundraisers scheduled for this year (see below). Which is your biggest event?

Our biggest events in the past have been our basket raffle night at the Braintree Brewhouse and our Ladies Night Out, both of which raised over $2,000.

We are hoping that our 1st annual Stump Trivia Night, being held on Saturday Jan., 25 at the Cahill Auditorium will be even more successful and our biggest fundraiser yet.

How involved are students in the planning process? Do they have a hand in what types of events the committee will hold?

Right now, senior students are not involved in the planning process. We try to keep this night as much of a surprise as possible and although we generally use the same format, new volunteers bring new ideas and creativity to the night.

Underclassmen have been a huge help with the decorations on the day before, as the process can take anywhere from four to six hours.

Last year for the first time we solicited feedback from some of the seniors and made some changes based on what they liked and disliked. This year we hope to expand that survey to every senior regarding their view of positive and
negatives.

Describe the experience of being at the All-Night Grad Party.

Graduation 2013 was my first year as chair of the All Night Grad Party. After all the hard work that goes into this night, to be a witness as the students walk into their high school and see it transformed into a Casino and a full blown Beach Party with music and dancing. Fortune Tellers and Tattoo stands, photo booths, caricatures and food beyond food.

It gives me and all the volunteers such a sense of accomplishment and pride knowing that we have a created such a memorable event and that they will never forget their last night of high school. The volunteers have also provided the senior parents with a huge sense of relief knowing that their children are in a safe and controlled environment for the night.

More fundraisers to come this year include:

March 5th, Chili's Restaraunt

March 23rd, Foxwoods bus out of Braintree High School,  8 a.m.

April 10th Jenny Boston, Hingham, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

May 10th Brewhouse, Baskets, Raffles, DJ & Dancing, 7 p.m.

See the attached flier for more info on Trivia Night.