Paradise School alumni gather

Paradise Elementary School was back in session for two days last weekend. Students didn't have any reading assignments and there was no homework, just visiting and reliving fond memories of yesteryears. 

It was the "First Annual Student Reunion for the Paradise School" - the first one the former school had ever had, said Dave Colyer, who came up with the idea to have a reunion a couple years ago while discussing what events they might have at the Paradise Center, which had been an active school until 2013. He said more than 30 former students showed up for the event, although he's not sure of an exact number because some may not have signed the guest book. About half of the former students traveled from outside Sanders County for the reunion and nearly 25 of them signed the alumni wall in the basement. "Maybe this will get it started and it'll keep going - I hope so," said Jackie Colyer, Dave's sister and a Paradise student from 1959 to 1967.

Colyer said that reunion organizers had no real schedule, but they wanted to have the center open for alumni to tour their former school and take in the nostalgia. "We're flying by the seat of our pants. Hopefully some people will get involved for next year and more planning will take place," said Colyer, who was a student at Paradise School for first to eighth grade from 1962 to 1970. Dave spent most of the weekend at the old school, greeting people and serving as a tour guide for alumni and other visitors that showed up to see the center, which has been a community center, visitor center and arts center since 2016. The school closed its doors three years prior due to a lack of students.

The reunion went from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Alumni had the opportunity to take tours, visit with former classmates and bid on Paradise School artifacts. The silent auction raised around $200, which will go to the Paradise Center. The auction included three wooden chairs, which might have been used at the school in the 1940s. It also included four basketballs from different eras, a soccer ball and 18 boys and girls Paradise Bombers athletic jerseys. Colyer said a silent auction will be part of next year's reunion. The oldest alumnus was 97-year-old Betty Meyer, a student from 1930 to 1939. She said her grandfather, Orlando Steele, was the first janitor when the school was built in 1910. She said she was pleased that the overall look of the schoolhouse hadn't changed much from the time she was a student, except there was no gymnasium. The gym, a separate building, was constructed in the 1960s. The youngest alumnus was 14-year-old Brenden Vanderwall, who was one of the handful of students in the final class when the school closed.

Most of the alumni still reside in Plains and Paradise. Most were students, but some were school staff. Some were both, like Karval Pickering, who started school there in 1944 in first grade and graduated from the eighth grade in 1952. As a student, Pickering assisted the cook by washing dishes. In 1963 she became a substitute cook and later served as the school clerk for more than 30 years before being elected as the school board chairperson, a position she held until 2016. 

"I signed the paperwork that turned the school over to the county," said Pickering, whose five children were all Paradise students. Her daughter, Karen Willoughby, went on to teach at the school. Her father, Jerry, was a student from 1924 to 1928. Her mother, Vivian, was the school's first cook when they went to hot meals. For the reunion, she put together a thick booklet of registered students and teachers from 1921 to 1946. "When the school closed, I was absolutely heart-broken. This was my second home," said the 82-year-old Pickering, who may have had more family members at the school than anyone else in the county. 

Idaho resident Brenda Offerdahl, formerly Brenda Stephens, told how in the 1970s her mother, Judy Stephens, used to take her little brother to school with her. While teaching reading, her mother would put Greg down for naps in the classroom's storage closet. "I think she also had her first kiss with my dad in that storage room," Brenda told a group of people in the former fifth/sixth grade classroom.

Several of the visiting students rang the school's bell at the front door. The alumni talked about clothing, teachers, the playground, sledding on the nearby hill, and about what fun it was to slide down the fire escape. The 30-foot long metal tube, made in the 1920s, went from the third floor to the outside. Jo Hanson, a student from 1952 to 1961 and one of the reunion tour guides Saturday, said that when the school was being transferred to the county she received a lot of messages to make sure the fire escape remained. Hanson did extensive research on the school for her book on the railroad, "Milepost 0" and said that when there was a fire drill, two of the biggest boys from the seventh/eighth grade classroom, where the fire escape entrance is located, ran downstairs and outside to catch students at the exit. It was noted that when the kindergarten classes began at Paradise Elementary School in the 1970s a kindergarten student would ride down on the lap of an eighth-grader. Hanson admitted that it was fun going down the fire escape, although when a student did it without a fire alarm and was caught, punishment ensured.

Many of the spaces at the Paradise Center are dedicated to the history of the school, including an athletic trophy room that contains Paradise Bombers memorabilia, including a wooded discus that could be 100 years old. Colyer said that it was the students who came up with the Bombers mascot during World War II after the bomber aircraft. He said it was possible that some of the kids had relatives that were crewmen on bombers.

The center also has a historic classroom set up on the third floor with a teacher's desk, believed to be from the 1930s, and a row of student desks from the 1920s, 1950s and the 1980s, said Kathleen Hubka, one of the tour guides on Saturday. Some of the wooden desks still showed students' carved messages, such as "Bl -n- St = Love," "Hi Sweetie," and "Shut-up," along with several names and initials. 

Some students took time to squeeze into one of the old desks, including Meyer, the oldest alumnus at the reunion. Meyer was accompanied by her daughter, Kathy Gorham, who attended Paradise for only one year in 1950.  One of Meyer's favorite memories was Christmastime at Paradise. "It was such a magical time at the school. The store man brought candy to the students and apples, oranges and nuts. We had Santa and we always had a play," said Meyer, who was also part of another exclusive group - she was an Army truck driver in World War II. July 4 was the 76th anniversary of getting her discharge papers. 

Dan Pickering, Karval's son, immediately searched for his name etched in the bricks on the outside walls of the schoolhouse, where hundreds of names can be seen. Pickering was a student there from 1966 to 1973 and traveled from Brookings, South Dakota, for the reunion. However, the person to travel the farthest distance was Bill Harwood from Saipan, where he teaches fifth grade. Harwood attended Paradise School from 1967 to 1970.

Colyer wasn't sure why they've never had a school reunion in the past. He guesses that probably no one thought of it or people were unwilling to make an effort to have one. He said the event went well and believes more will attend in 2022.

"People want to do another one next year. Hopefully more will get involved and we can start planning earlier," said Colyer, who is the vice president of the Paradise School Preservation Committee, the nonprofit group that manages the Paradise Center. "People seemed to enjoy getting acquainted with old friends and making new ones," he added.

"The thing that fuels me is to keep this open for the town and for my family," said Pickering.  "I'm happy that different classes are here and that they'll all gather for class reunions within class reunions, like a reunion within a reunion."