Our local high school is coming down...soon.
There is a big new one almost ready to take its place.
Last weekend we had a chance to tour the old school...
one last time.
It was open to any and all former students.
Why not?
Some 5000 alumni seemed to think it was a good idea!
My good friend from high school days drove out...
and we had a fine time walking those old halls...
and reminiscing.
We decided we should maybe just park by our grad class photo...
and eventually some of those 'old folks' wandering around would come looking...
and introduce themselves.
How is it that all our classmates had changed so much...
we we still look exactly the same?
LOL
Carol found her home room...
and the perch she spent a lot of time on.
And she knew the names of those who had sat on the stools next to her...
and recalled all the fun times they had.
And she declared that nothing had changed in that room in the past four decades.
Maybe it WAS time for a new school.
I found my English classroom...
still at the top of the stairs.
It had at one time served as the music room.
Hubby took us to the 'shop wing'...
where he used to hang out.
Funny...I don't ever remember wandering down that hall in my years as a student.
Here was someone that I recognized!
You may just be taking another guided tour of the school on Ocean Soul's blog...
sometime soon.
She graduated with my much younger brother...
but her brother was a good friend of mine.
We studied German together...
though not much studying happened in that class...
as I recall.
We then met up with the current vice-principal...
and had a nice chat.
We don't see much of him these days...
though he was a frequent visitor in our home in days gone by.
He would be the charming young man on the right...
who could often be found 'in the same boat' as our son back in the day.
He came on camping trips with us, slept over often ...
and our families shared many fun times.
He may be the VP...
but he is still the 'little boy I knew and loved'.
It was so nice to meet up with him!
Blue and gold.
The old sports jerseys and school sweaters brought back memories as well!
It was good...
our self-guided-wandering about the old school.
CSS will soon be history...
and the generations to come will be in a newer...
bigger...
and better facility.
But memories of 'the pink shack' (as it was dubbed in my time) will live on.
Aww Judy, what a touching post. How cool that the school invited the alumni for a final look around. Sounds like they had a terrific response from former students. It's always bittersweet to see the "old" exchanged for the "new", but often it's needed in the name of progress. Glad you got to attend this event.
ReplyDeleteNow my old high school is also scheduled for demolition...what's up with these 50 year old schools being too old? I will not be wandering the halls to say goodbye. Let's just say that it has never been difficult to say so long to high school days. They were not among the happiest days of my life no matter what people tried to tell me.
ReplyDeleteYour high school days, on the other hand, always do sound rather fun! Everyone in the community must be getting eager for the tour of the new high school!
I enjoyed your walk down memory lane. I regret now that I didn't take one more visit in the old Abby school before they demolished it. I think I may have quite enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI can almost imagine your classes and the fun chatter with your friends.
Fun that so many alumni still live nearby. I hope a really good photo record and video of the place is made before it gets demolished. They will be appreciated at your 70th class reunion in a few years ( ha! My folks tell me that one rolls around pretty fast!)
ReplyDeleteMy high school that was built in the 1920's got torn down the year after I graduated in 1972. The old school was charming, the new was a hideous windowless box. So much for staring out the windows to see the surf down the hill!
How fun to walk the halls again, such great fun memories right?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the walk with you...
Hugs!
What a nice idea that the school invited you all. It must have brought back many memories.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this walk down memory lane. Schools haven't changed much in 50 years, have they?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this too as it reminded me of the high school I attended in Vancouver. In fact, that homeroom looked just like mine. It was like a vague picture I have just came to life ... I did not like my homeroom and I hope I don't have nighmares of not finding my timetable and wandering the halls, trying to figure out what class I was late for.
ReplyDeleteThis brought back my memories too - graduating the same year you did!!! My homeroom too was in one of the science labs. I can still hear the hallway bells and sounds as we rushed from room to room in our skirts and pennie loafers with the fellows and their huge brief cases! I wonder if it still smells the same too?
ReplyDeleteBrings back many fond memories of my years at CSS. (I graduated in 1958) We heard 10 years ago that this school was not earthquake proof and it needed to be torn down.(Well for more than one reason I am sure.) It would have been fun to have come down for the final walk though. Liz Wiebe (Willms) and I did talk about it.
ReplyDeleteRight now they are demolishing our Senior Center to make way for the new Yacht club. Oh sure they built us "something" to replace it, however it will never be our "senior center on the Lake". Sometimes we just need a little time to reflect and grieve.
Thanks for this special blog regarding Chilliwacks unique History.
Martha Willms (Wiebe)
Good Morning...what a beautiful post as you gave tribute to some special people in your life. That is one of the places that you and I never crossed bridges, as I took my last years at ABBy. My mom actually attended the same school. That's, unbelievable. Parto the history of CHWK...I was looking for the BB jersey with the number 21. That was Mikki's number.
ReplyDeleteMy sister was just telling me about this. It looks like you had a great time revisiting your high school years and the memories made there. Blessings, Pamela
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting visit! I like how you shared memories and pictures. My school has been torn down too, but this did evoke some special memories for me. Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to walk about your alma mater and see friends from your past.
ReplyDeleteGreat that you got to say good-bye! I'm sure it was fun remembering!
ReplyDeleteYour former High School still looked like it was in good condition, Judy! I'm sure the new one will be amazing and it will be wonderful that some of your grandchildren will probably attend it.
ReplyDelete