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dry grad
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — British Columbia, Education
an alcohol-free party in celebration of high school graduation.
Type: 5. Frequency — Chart 1 shows that dry grad is distinctly Canadian by virtue of frequency. What is called in other places "safe grad", (see grad meaning 3), is called dry grad in only one Canadian province, that is, in British Columbia (see Chart 2). Thus the term is a good lexical marker of BC English.
See: grad
Quotations
1988
Launching of balloons to mark dry grad drive
[...]
At Belmont high school in suburban Victoria, principal Leo Chaland is working in conjunction with police, parents and students to avoid a repeat of last June's grad party disaster. Police seized 70 cases of beer, laid 90 liquor charges and two impaired-driving charges as a result of the 1987 melee involving 800 people.
"By and large, it's not the grads who prove to be the biggest problem. It is others we don't even know, who just show up," said Chaland. "What we're trying to do is encourage a number of small parties as opposed to some kind of big bash."
But organizers such as Donna Charlton in Kamloops are thinking big. A non-alcoholic celebration at Brocklehurst last year was so successful that other Kamloops area schools will join in.
1992
Parent Carolyn Payer says the attitude of many Richmond businesses approached to be sponsors of the alcohol-free night June 23 has been "so what." Only 100 tickets of a possible 500 have been sold so far, says Carolyn. "It's our first attempt at a dry grad but it will go ahead regardless. A lot of parents asked to act as chaperones have refused. I thought if it got a mention in Column One it might drum up support."
2009
So, graduation from high school is now an accomplishment of epic proportions, accompanied by all the heraldry and festivities one would accord a Nobel laureate. Our 18-year-olds leave secondary school having been steeped in knowledge, critical thinking and erudition ready to shoulder the burden of adulthood.
I know in my kid's yearbook, grad after grad scribbled their laudatory best wishes, time and again misspelled as "Congradulations!"
It is hoped that when they take their yearbooks out again in about a decade they'll remember more of their education than where they got super-soaked or that a water bra can also double as a vodka bra at dry grad.
A vodka bra? If that's not worth a Betsy Johnson frock and a stretch limo, I don't know what is.
2011
The province introduced a bevy of amendments it would like to make to the Liquor Control Act on Thursday, including a number intended to crack down on underage drinking and fostering greater public safety and well-being.
Among them: ...
* facilitating discussion between MADD Canada and school boards to promote dry grad initiatives.
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 19 Nov. 2016
