Paradise school turns 100
Other than the cement steps, the school looks remarkably the same as it did 100 years ago.
Walking through the ancient halls of the Paradise school a person
can almost feel the history come to life.
Celebrating their 100-year-anniversary school officials had plenty
of historical artifacts on display from the ancient typewriter
sitting on a bookcase by the school’s entrance that is the oldest
piece of history in the building to pictures of the Paradise
baseball team hanging on the wall in one of the classrooms.
Besides the pictures and the school’s old hardware, school
officials were eager to give participants a history lesson last
weekend. With tours going on all day Friday, people also had a
chance to read the name of every teacher that taught at Paradise
starting with Elizabeth Sullivan in 1907 and ending with current
teachers such as Teri Hoye and Andy Cristaldi. They also could see
the numerous constructional changes that occurred to the school.
However, as far as the front of the building is concerned people in
the know say it looks exactly the same as it did 100 years ago
minus the cement steps that replaced the wooden vintage in
1941.
Paradise grade school celebrated its 100th birthday this past
weekend with an all-oul celebration at the school grounds.
The Paradise School Board put on their own special celebration to
celebrate the grade school’s centennial anniversary.
“It will be a community celebration because the school is the heart
of this community and it has been for years,” said Karval
Pickering, member of the school board and co-organizer of the
centennial event.
The entire weekend focused mainly on remembering the past 100 years
through pictures, words and games.
On
Saturday was when 100 years worth of memories will be presented to
the public. Pickering said she has contacted a plethora of former
Paradise grade school teachers for them to write down their
remembrances from their years at the school.
“We have two teachers still living that taught here and one is 103
years old and one is 95 years old, who still lives here, and they
are going to write down their memories and I’m going to read them
on Saturday,” said Pickering.
In
addition to the historic presentation, there was a barbeque lunch
starting at noon, followed by games and an all-school softball
game. Snead said when she was in school in Paradise, every Friday
afternoon grades one through eighth would gather on the softball
field for a game. The school board remade this tradition from
years of old as part of the centennial event.
To
go along with the theme of memories, Pickering, Snead and other
participants dug up an old time capsule that was buried beneath
home plate over 30 years ago. Pickering said while she was a cook
at the grade school, she placed kitchen tools along with items from
teachers and students into a five-gallon bucket in a sealed lid.
The buried time capsule has never been dug up, but the centennial
celebration seemed like a perfect time to dig up the trinkets of
old.
Pickering has dedicated an ample of amount of time into researching
both the school and town’s history, which are both interconnected.
The school was built the same year the town of Paradise was
officially settled and made into a division point for the Northern
Pacific railroad company. Paradise was created for the sole purpose
of housing railroad workers and their families. As a division
point, crew members would change when they stopped in Paradise.
The railroad built a restaurant, a hotel and homes for these crew
members.
Pickering’s father came to Paradise in 1924 from eastern Mont. when
he was eight years old. Generations of Pickering’s family attended
school in Paradise and Pickering herself worked as a clerk for the
school for 30 years before becoming a member of the school
board.
“In my personal opinion there couldn’t be a better place on earth
to raise children, but you have to be able to feed them as well,”
said Pickering commenting on how the town has changed since the tie
plant shut down, leaving little industry in Paradise. “The area and
the school and the people are so supportive, it really is a
wholesome type area for kids to be in.”
For sale at the centennial celebration was a school cookbook
compiled of recipes from the past and present of residents
throughout the town of Paradise. The event centered around
memories, traditions and as Pickering said a time for “reconnecting
with old friends, while making new ones.”