Local school turns 100

by Danielle Switalski
| July 21, 2010 2:05 PM

It has been a summer of centennial celebrations in the small, unincorporated town of Paradise and Paradise Grade School is no exception when it comes to turning 100 years old.

The Paradise School Board is putting on their own special celebration in August 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 event is set for August 13 and 14 at Paradise grade school and will focus mainly on remembering the past 100 years through pictures, words and games.

On Friday, August 13, the school will be open from noon until 5:00 p.m. for public viewing, as Pickering said it has changed tremendously over the years and she feels residents and visitors will like to once again walk the halls and see those improvements and changes. Throughout the main school building, which has been standing since 1910, pictures of old will be hung, showcasing the years of history that the Paradise school building has withstood for a century's time.

School Board Chairman Sue Snead said they are trying to get food vendors on Friday night, but if that doesn't pull through there will be a bon fire at night with a sing along led by Lisa French.

Saturday, August 14 is 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, who so far has collected writings from about five former teachers.

In addition to the historic presentation, there will be a barbeque lunch starting at noon, followed by games and an all-school softball game. Snead said when she was in school in Paradise that every Friday afternoon grades one through eighth would gather on the softball field for a game. The school board will remake this tradition from years of old as part of the centennial event.

To go along with the theme of memories, Pickering and Snead have plans to dig 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 seems 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 will also be a school cookbook compiled of recipes from the past and present of residents throughout the town of Paradise. The event will center around memories, traditions and as Pickering said a time for "reconnecting with old friends, while making new ones."