WELLS — At Warrior Memorial Field Sunday afternoon, caps were flying long before the end of Wells High School’s 113th commencement ceremony.

While the day was sunny, a strong wind blew caps off heads and twisted the red and white gowns around the patiently waiting, soon-to-be-graduates’ legs.

Principal Eileen Sheehy joked, “Now my job is to stand here and hold the podium down” as she began the ceremony.

Sheehy’s speech focused on community support and service. She noted that the Class of 2016 – about 110 in all – had raised over $100,000 for various charities, including Wounded Warriors, American Heart Association and the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.

Salutatorian Tamar Cimenian continued with the humor, telling her classmates that “everything is pointless – school, relationships, work, all of it – unless you choose to make it meaningful.”

Cimenian said that what made her class special was that “we find our dreams, those ephemeral flashes of activity that make us think, ‘I could die happy doing this,’ and we pursue them.”

She asked her classmates to “embrace life with open arms, and taste and savor all that it has to offer.”

Class valedictorian Kate Macolini followed that theme.

“Instead of continuously plotting every mundane detail of what will surely be a grand adventure, I ask you instead to, at least for this week, appreciate each day as it comes,” she said .

Macolini focused her speech on memories made.

“I cannot know what your Wells High School is, but here’s a bit of mine,” she said.

Graduating senior Tyler Whitten said the hardest part of graduation was getting dressed.

“Today, probably the most stressful part was getting the robe on and making sure you didn’t forget anything,” said Whitten. “Once you get this robe on, you’re done – you just have to grab the certificate and walk away.”

Nick Cousins had a slightly different view of commencement, calling it “kind of nerve-wracking.”

“It’s crazy that today’s the day we’re done with this,” Cousins said.

The two friends will both be attending Thomas College in the fall – Whitten for criminal justice; Cousins for criminal justice and forensic psychology.

Although the day was windy, graduating senior Lindsey Myers was happy to be graduating outside and not in a crowded, hot building.

For Myers, who finished her schooling online, the hardest part of high school was the “people, grades – everything.”