Establishments to remain calm for graduation

The inevitable influx of relatives and other attendees to graduation ceremonies can conceivably cause extra stress on local authorities and other establishments. \nHowever, this is not the case for police and some restaurants and bars in Bloomington. \nNick’s English Hut maintains normal functioning levels and adds no extra employees or other outstanding efforts to compensate a potential increased customer base, said bartender Carey Pittman.\n“Once we’re full, we’re full,” Pittman said in reference to maintaining the standard operating procedures.\nNick’s is expected to have its busiest time Saturday afternoon, following the conclusion of the graduation ceremonies. \nRay McConn, owner of Mother Bear’s Pizza, is also avoiding the employment of any special precautions that deal with compensating for the extra number of people coming into town this weekend. \nMcConn said the business is already functioning at such a high level that it just goes with the normal procedures, which are consistently successful. \nMcConn also mentioned that many of the parents and students coming in for graduation opt to go to more expensive restaurants, thus taking away some potential Mother Bear’s customers. \nDante Pensa, a bartender at Malibu Grill, said their establishment is expecting quite a turnout for graduation.\nThe planning for graduation at Malibu Grill was initiated about two months ago when ideas for the graduation menu began to take form. \nPreparation for the graduation crowd involved the ratification of the new menu made exclusively for the event, along with a more generalized prepping of the kitchen staff, not to mention an addition of several extra employees, Pensa said.\nIU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said the police handle graduation like they would any other special event happening at Assembly Hall. \nThe Bloomington traffic situation can often be a substantial source of stress for residents and graduation attendees from out of town alike. Despite this, Minger said there was no need to put in special traffic patterns. \nMost families or other attendees to the ceremony come early in order to get settled in their respective hotels and take part in all of the preceremony activities, Minger said. He added that these early arrivals ultimately leave traffic in the city relatively free-flowing.\nMinger described the event as something accompanied by additional stress, like the Barack Obama speech that took place Wednesday.