Commencement Speaker 1971 and 2003

When my son Adam was graduating from Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School, I asked if I could be the faculty speaker at Commencement held at Baldwin Pavilion (Meadowbrook) June 8, 2003. They let me do it and it was one of the highlights of my life. Plus, I got to give Adam a hug when he went across the stage to accept his diploma!

Being senior class president has it’s perks…I got to speak at graduation…which was held on the football/soccer field June 9, 1971 under the lights. The guy on the right (my left) is my Dad, Charles L. Bowers MD, who was president of the Board of Education. He appears to be enjoying whatever I just said. The other man is Anne Cole’s father, Ed Cole, president of General Motors and our commencement speaker. The speech is below…scroll down.

Pete Bowers Commencement Speech 6-9-1971

I would first like to welcome the relatives, friends and guests to this, the Commencement exercise. This is the big night and I’m sure the graduating seniors here have looked forward to this night for many years. We’ve all wished that it could have come a lot sooner in some instances, but now that we are here receiving our diplomas, I sometimes think it went to fast. As far as this school year goes, I would have to consider it a very successful year for the senior class. We finally put together a winning float in the annual Homecoming float building competition. Our powder puff girls retained their championship by defeating the junior girls in that final game. And the senior class came out on top in the week of Winter Carnival activities held this last March. But as I look around at this group seated here in front of me, I see a different bunch than what entered this school three years ago. Longfellow put it this way: “All things must change, to something new, to something strange.” But what has really changed? This school definitely has. Yes, during our three years here, we have seen many changes take place. Besides the spacious pool that was built in 1967, the area that we now sit was quite different then. Those goal posts weren’t there or neither was this beautiful all-weather track that is used by more Bloomfield Hills students than any other athletic facility in the school district. We watched and waited as the workers put in the lights that we are now under and the sound system last spring. And just two short months ago, those bleachers that you people are now sitting were nonexistent. Through student involvement, the dress code that stood for so many years was abandoned in our sophomore year. The school also recently expanded its Audio-Visual Department with purchases of video tape equipment for school wide use. Besides the many teachers that have come and gone, this class has also seen a change in superintendents from the retiring Eugene Johnson to our present chief Dr. Fred Thorin, who in his first year as superintendent we feel has don a commendable job. These are just some of the changes that have been completed in our stay here. There are several others that have just been instigated this year and will go into effect or be completed for this upcoming school year. As far as building changes go, there will be three major differences. First, construction will soon be completed on a large library and media center to meet any and all of the students needs and desires. Secondly, plans have been proposed for a large area on the third floor to be built into a desperately needed student lounge as a place for students to sit and relax and converse with friends. The third bit of construction has already been put to use in that some of your cars are presently parked on one of the proposed two new parking lots. It’s too bad that we won’t be around to utilize some of these additions but the important thing is that they have arrived and we, as students can feel proud in the fact that we had some say in the planning of these projects. There is one other change that will take place this summer and it’s the first time a thing like this has ever occurred. The first that I am referring to deals with the retirement of our principal, Richard J. Speiss, who has served this school district as teacher, coach and principal for some 35 years. We could talk all night about this man and there probably isn’t enough words of gratitude that could be expressed about him. You could consider this night Mr. Speiss’ graduation also and if you could give him a diploma, it would be a thank you and a wish for good health and sunny days for both he and his wife. To go back to what I said earlier is to say that we haven’t changed. I recently attended a Hickory Grove Elementary 6th grade reunion and upon talking to my old classmates and visiting with my third grade teacher, I came to the conclusion that we are the same people as we were back then. What we have done, though, is to grow in body and mind. The line between change and growth is a thin one but yet very distinct. We have grown in many ways. Our hair is a little longer than it used to be. And our clothes have kept up with the times. Though appearance is more noticeable to the eye, attitudes and prejudices have also grown. We’re a little more confidant behind the wheel than we used to be and we’re beginning to accept more and more of the adult responsibilities that lie ahead. With the future in mind, Albert Einstein once said, and I’ll never forget it, “I never think of the future, it comes soon enough”. My only wish for those graduates here tonight is the word PEACE. By that I not only mean peace from all wars but for peace of mind because that is the real task at hand. As Adlai Stevenson once said “The pursuit of peace is complicated because it has to do with people, and nothing in this universe baffles man as much as man himself”. In closing, I would like to recite a poem written by our good friend Max Ellison who graciously visited our school one day this past April…it’s called Success:

I’ve learned to say my name, and speak

The year, the month, the day of week,

Please and thanks with some small grace,

To know myself within the race

Of human beings where I walk

I’ve learned to read, to write, to talk

To cipher numbers one to ten.

I drop them there and start again,

I’ve learned the quiet of an hour.

I’ve learned the beauty of a flower.

Thank you.

Notice Adam sang the Star Spangled Banner…very cool! Notice also that I was the second faculty address. The first faculty address caused quite a stir which was editorialized in the Detroit News on June 10, 2003 below.