RUMFORD – While rain pelted the grass outside the Mountain Valley High School gym late Saturday afternoon, 127 graduating seniors and hundreds of people sweltered inside during the muggy 90-minute ceremony.

Many seated in chairs atop blue tarps over the gym floor and packed into bleachers lining the wall opposite the graduates fanned themselves with programs to keep cool, despite large fans lining side walls that circulated air.

Excitement quickly mounted during the first 20 minutes that saw 13 seniors perform the song “Who Cares?” with the Mountain Valley High School Band and School Chorus.

Then Aaron Cayer gave the senior address, intertwining his speech with Shel Silverstein’s poem “Traffic Light,” saying it best symbolized their lives up to Saturday’s main event.

“Well class, we’ve made it,” he started, addressing graduates garbed in blue caps and gowns behind him. “For the past 13 years, we have gone from a world of dependency and uncertainty to reassuring independent lives venturing in all directions.”

He advised them to remember their journeys’ beginning as their futures develop.

“Many of us remember walking into our first years of school, dressed by our mothers in fluorescent clothing – from head to toe,” he said to rolling laughter. “For that and for all of the help of growing up, we thank our parents.”

He also commended teachers for their roles and used Silverstein’s poetry as an analogy of the class being stuck in front of a traffic light for many years, unable to move ahead until graduation.

The speech was followed by a nearly 45-minute-long presentation of diplomas on stage by Principal Matthew Gilbert, Superintendent James Hodgkin, Assistant Principal Christopher Decker and SAD 43 board Chairwoman Linda Westleigh.

Parents, relatives and friends quickly positioned themselves for snapshots up front, because Gilbert and Hodgkin had each graduate pose between them for a few seconds to accommodate the crowd.

When they got to Robert Edward Louvat Sr., though, the crowd and seniors gave the retired naval chief petty officer and new high school graduate a standing ovation. Shortly afterward, Gilbert presented Louvat’s son, Joshua Louvat, with a diploma, to more loud applause.

Gilbert broke away from the schedule for an impromptu remembrance.

As each senior shook his hand, they gave him a homemade fortune cookie wrapped in plastic. Each message read, “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.”

“That was a very nice touch to get something that personal from the class,” he said of the message, the very words he’d announced to them every day this year over the intercom.

“They were fun – frustrating at times, challenging at times – but this class had character,” Gilbert said. “They were an extremely close class, but what made it special, is, these guys really cared about each other. Last night they talked about their legacy of championships and awards. The big thing with this class, is, that they did everything and seemed to do an outstanding job at everything.”

Even commencement marching practice, which they did so well, got them an unheard-of day off.

Eighty percent are college bound or undertaking postsecondary school training, heading into the military or going into apprentice training.

“We’re very proud of that,” Gilbert added.