DURFEE GRADUTION: Class of 2020 happy it waited to do it right

This story will be updated with more quotes, photos and video.

FALL RIVER — It was different. But not that different.

And the general consensus was that Durfee High's belated and pandemic-altered 2020 graduation was worth the six-week wait and a wise choice over a drive-through option the graduates voted down last spring.

Durfee's 473 graduates for Tuesday's festivities at a sunny and hot Mac Aldrich Field were allowed just two guests. Grads and guests were required to space. Masks were required. But it all worked. Largely because the Hilltoppers got to assemble for the first time since March 16.

"Being able to celebrate it with the family and friends of my loved ones, it was great," said graduate Anneicia Santana. "Even if it is two people, it doesn't matter. I think celebrating with people that love you and were here for the journey, it's just perfect."

"I got to spend it with everybody instead of myself alone," said graduate Jayden Lapointe.

Graduates gathered, starting at about 4 p.m., at the field hockey field, adjacent to Aldrich Field. There they lined up for the 6 p.m. march into Aldrich Field where chairs for grads and guests were socially distanced. Guests also sat in the west grandstand.

With the already impressive, under-construction new Durfee building as a background, the walk-across stage was erected in front of the east stands.

"Absolutely worth the wait," said graduate Nelson DeCarvalho. "Seeing all my favorite people again and hearing those speeches was an awakening I didn’t know I was in for. It’s real now, and I think I’m speaking for the entire class when I say I wouldn’t have it any other way."

The speakers as a whole — five students, Mayor Paul Coogan, Principal Matthew Desmarais, Supt. of Schools Dr. Matthew Malone, and Vice-Principal Melissa Fogarty -- adhered to the program's announced desire for verbal brevity, and the entire ceremony, including the distribution of diplomas, was completed in about 90 minutes.

Speaking before the ceremony, valedictorian Thomas Panchley said he was originally enthused about the delayed graduation. "I just kind of wanted to get it over with," he said. "Now that I'm here in the moment, I am happy to see everyone and it is nice to finally, after all these months being in quarantine, to get to reunite with all my classmates."

Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.