All Night Live has been a graduation tradition at Concord-Carlisle High School for over three decades, and this year it was “a smashing success,” according to Tina Labadini and Carolyn Hallinan, who chaired the event.
Part of All Night Live’s allure is that graduates do not know what to expect — all they know is that it’s a celebration on their behalf.
The students arrive the night of graduation and stay in the school building until 5 a.m. the next day. “It is basically an eight-hour celebration with non-stop fun activities and five hours of rotating meals,” Labadini said. “We are intentionally vague about the details of the event, simply because we want it to be a surprise.”
The feedback from the current graduates was that throughout the night, they were consistently impressed and surprised. Equally important was the feedback from parents, who get peace of mind from knowing their kids are safe on graduation night.
The chairs begin the planning and donation solicitation process in February. This year the committee had six co-chairs — Carolyn Hallinan, Denise Jantzen, Tina Labadini, Carla Macy, Kristin McCullar and Suzanne Mirak — as well as 30 sub-committee chairs and 225 volunteers who helped before, during and after the event.
All Night Live secured donations from over 125 CCHS families — a record number. While trying to make the event financially accessible for all students, they worked with the business community to collect funds, as well as in-kind donations, to defray costs. Without these donations, this year’s event cost would have been $40,000.
Sponsors included Middlesex Bank, Dunkin/The Pesce Network, Sorrento’s Pizza, Lift the Performance, Rev Concord, Wegmans, Crosby’s, New London Pizza, Roche Bros., and Costco. The committee also received a grant from the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.
To learn more about supporting All Night Live through volunteer or financial contributions, write to chairs@cchsallnightlive.org.
