By Jody Rudh

After having to cancel the 2020 ANGP, the 2021 party is in the planning stages for Friday, June 4th at the Hastings Civic Arena. The Hastings High School All Night Grad Party (Hastings ANGP) began in 1978 and has been a cherished tradition ever since. Our party is organized and hosted by the HHS parents who contribute their talents, volunteer their time, and offer financial support. We celebrate our seniors’ accomplishments at our allnight celebration in the evening of graduation. We rely on financial support from individuals and businesses in Hastings and the surrounding areas to make this party a reality year after year. This Hastings event is with aim that is twofold: To provide our graduates with an exciting and memorable way to celebrate graduation with their friends and to keep our graduates safe and off the roads on a night that can sometimes lead to carelessness or tragedy.

We are a self-funding organization and received no money from the school district. We rely on donations from our community to make sure this important event becomes a reality year after year. We are also a 501 C organization, so all donations are tax deductible.

In the past few years, we have had some awesome HHS students with their contributions to the party. Ben McKinney, a 2021 HHS grad, reached out to us to come up with a plan to donate his skills for his Eagle Scout project. Ben worked on the plans, layout of our storage and then donated around 10 3-tier shelves to our organization, where we store all our decorations. Ben is set to join the military after graduation. Also, the Hastings westing team came out to help clean out our storage area last year. We enjoyed all the extra muscles.

The ANGP wanted to do something special for the 2020 graduates since we were unable to have a party due to COVID. With the help of donors and Graphic Design; we hung over 325 senior posters on Schaffer Field at the Middle School. The students then received the banners as a gift and used them to showcase at the graduation drive-thru event. We decided to continue this tradition this year and hung over 380 banners.

This year’s party is scheduled on Friday, June 4th from 9pm-2am at the Civic Arena, since we were unable to have at the school. The cost is $40.00. The event will be filled with food, games, prizes and a hypnotist show by Jay Brian.

If you would like to sign up for party, donate your time or donate money, please visit our page at hastingsgradparty.com or call Michelle at 651398-3590

2021 HHS Grad, Ben McKinney, donated his skills to complete his Eagle Scout Project. His project was to design and build shelving for the All Night Grad Party’s storage area. Photo Submitted.