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Journal photos by Chelsea DeMello

FroOl left: Annie Otto, Harold Taiki and Robert Elliot Sr. discuss an 91d class portrait during the Columbus
School House dedicati~n ceremony Sunday afternoon.

CalchingUp
.Columbus classmates hold reunion
BY CHELSEA DEMELLO
cdemello@journal-news.net
HEDGESVILLE - What
makes for a great reunion?
The memories, as well as being
remembered.
For a handful of students who
attended the Columbus School
House more than 70 years ago,
being remembered during Sunday
afternoon's dedication ceremony
felt pretty good.
And thanks to the efforts of one
Eagle Scout, the memory of the
school will be around for genera. tions to come in the form of a
brick monument mounted with a
plaque that is dedicated to the history of the school house.
Five of the original students of
the Columbus School House
attended the dedication ceremony,
and went down memory lane with
old school mates.
The school, originally built in
the 1880s, served more than eight
classes at a time until it was
demolished in 1945, according to
William Moore, a local historian.
Although most of the students
only made it to the second grade
before transferring schools, the
Columbus School still left a longstanding impression.

Gregory Kinsey gives final remarks during the Columbus School House
dedication ceremony Sunday afternoon. Kinsey built the monument for
his Eagle Scout project.
. Former student Archie Houck
said he can still remember some
of the luxuries he used to find .
enjoyable about the school at the
time.
"We'd fetch a bucket of water
and put it by the door and 'drink
out of it, all of us," he said. "We
didn't have anything to worry

about - didn't know about anything back then."

.
In addition, with winter just
around the comer, Houck said he
can remember spending time outside during recess being kneedeep in the snow.

See REUNION,

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Reunion

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FROMPAGEAl

"We'd walk in a big circle

in.the snow about this high,"
he said as he pointed to his
knees.vOther kids would be
in the middle with snow
balls. They'd tryto hit us
with them and we'd duck
beneath the snow."
Annie Otto, a lifelong
Hedgesville resident,
referred to her first memories of the Columbus School
House as somewhat "traumatic."
Otto said she had four
brothers and was the only
one who attended the school
house before it was
destroyed and passed
through each class successfully. Otto said she was
. ready to enter the third grade
when the Columbus School

House was destroyed.

Other former students of
the school house also celebrated the monument Sunday
afternoon and saw some
familiar faces.
As for the monument
itself, Gregory Kinsey created the brick design for his
Eagle Scout project this year.
And while the walls of the
two-room school no longer
remain, Kinsey proved that it
was still a place where learning could occur.
Although it took him a
few months to understand
the mechanics of masonry,
Kinsey finished the project
and learned a little bit about
himself along the way.
"I've learned that if I push
myself, I can achieve great

things," Kinsey said.

Moore said he is hoping
that the community will be
able to build off this monument in the future.
It will playa key function
'in identifying Allensville, he
added.
"This is an identity factor
for this community. Even
though people live in Berkeley County, not many know
about Allensville," Moore
said. "And it ceased to be
after 1945, but with the help
of Kinsey, after 2014, it
won't be forgotten for a long
time to come."
- Staffwriter Chelsea
DeMello can be reached at
304-263-8931, ext. 215, or
twitter.com/cdemelloJN.

~~~

Monday, October 27,2014

Page A7

School. The Oct. 26 dedication of the monument was

well attended.

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From Hedgesville:
Congratulations to
Hedgesville Boy Scout Gregory A. Kinsey for his successful Eagle project honoring Allensville's Columbus