Good luck to the class of 2009

Douglas High School's Class of 2009 will march across the stage and into history tonight, or Saturday if the weather intervenes.

High school graduation in Minden, and prior to the late '70s in Gardnerville, has always been an important moment for The Record-Courier.

That's why we've listed every senior in the newspaper since old Douglas County High School was built in 1916. An R-C reporter named Burt Selkirk was a regular at graduation for the better part of 30 years. After he wrote about it, he set the type, printed the paper and distributed it every Friday.

The graduates of 2009 face a difficult future, but no more so than the graduates of the class of 1929, 1939, 1949 or 1959. Some are moving onto college, others to the workplace and still others, into military service.

Many have family here who will help them get their start. Some have earned a chance to attend some of the nation's most prestigious schools.

Some will enter the workplace with all the challenges that entails.

Those who sign up for military service will share in a long heritage of Douglas High graduates who have gone in harm's way to protect our freedoms.

Whatever your choice, we're proud of you, class of 2009. Good luck and Godspeed.