I enjoy school reunions. We have just observed our ninth All-Years School Reunion for Pea Ridge High School since the organization of the Alumni Association in 2006. Prior to 2006, various graduating classes through the years had observed their own individual class reunions or cluster reunions from time to time. Probably the most regular and most constant class for reunions has been the Class of 1958, which is my wife Nancy's graduating class. They have held reunions every five years since they graduated from PRHS 56 years ago. A reunion of the Class of '58 always involves some of the Class of 1957 as well, since some of us '57s married '58s.
The All-Years School reunion was held this year at the Pea Ridge Middle School, since unfinished construction work is still going on at the High School cafeteria. Penny Schwitters at the registration table reported that about 150 former PRHS students and guests signed in for the gathering, held Saturday, July 12. Although it doesn't work out every year, we try intentionally to coordinate the Alumni Day Reunion with the Pea Ridge Community Fair, hoping that people returning to the community for the reunion will also take in the fair activities as well. The Pea Ridge Fair has been going on for a long time, being inspired by the grandly successful Pea Ridge Centennial Celebration in 1950. Pea Ridge considers its birthdate to be Aug. 5, 1850, when the U.S. Postal Service established a post office in town. Prior to that time, the mail for the village and community had been dropped off at Elkhorn Tavern, and delivered to the village of Pea Ridge by horseback, buggy or horse-drawn wagon. Those were the days of the stagecoaches and pony express, when the old road passing Elkhorn Tavern was the main road between St. Louis, Mo., and Fort Smith, Ark.
Our new accommodations at the Pea Ridge Middle School worked out very well, and we appreciated Mr. Keith Martin for helping work things out on short notice to make the change of locations reasonably smooth. We apologize to the several friends who went to the high school parking lot and for a time were wondering where everyone was? Parking was a bit tight, and we did miss having the big pictures of the graduating classes on the wall around us, but we think most everyone had a great time. The Alumni Association is currently awarding eight scholarships per year to help our high school's graduating seniors get started in college. The scholarships provide $500 per semester in the first college year to help cover tuition and books. Since 2007, when the first Alumni scholarship was awarded to Heather Marlowe, the Alumni Association's scholarship awards have totaled $41,500.
Many of us enjoy the reunions simply because we value the connections with school friends and acquaintances, some of whom now live in distant places. Some of us attended school at Pea Ridge when the school was small enough that we knew nearly everyone, in all the grades. We knew all the teachers, all the administrators and secretaries, the bus drivers, and all the ladies in the hot lunch room. The reunions are opportunities to reconnect, to catch up on what's happening to one another, and to tell some of our old stories again just for the fun of it. Memories seem a bit wasted if you can't rehearse them again from time to time with old acquaintances who helped make the memories in years past.
I have heard of people who dread going to reunions because their class reunions have been times when certain people wanted to show off their successes of wealth and prestige, causing others to try to put on a show as well. We hope our school reunions are not like that. We just like to see people who grew up in our community, who share some years of school history with us, and who often have stories we haven't heard yet about where they went from here. Pea Ridge alums are interesting people, and visiting together often makes us aware that our little town and our school has contributed some pretty fine folks to the larger world.
Some of us remember when the whole school, first grade through 12th, was only about 120 students, and the population of Pea Ridge was fewer than 200. Today, even one grade has more students than our whole school had then. The educational opportunities offered by our schools today are wonderful, and have improved through the years. But even those of us from the 1940s and 1950s can greatly value the education we were able to get through Pea Ridge public schools. You could learn a lot, if you were willing.
In the earliest days of Pea Ridge education, the schools were not public schools. They were private subscription schools. Students had to pay to attend. The Pea Ridge Academy, the first really enduring school, was formed in 1874, about the same time as the University of Arkansas, and it grew up with ties to the university. In 1884, the Pea Ridge Public Elementary School was opened, within the Academy's building, which had been built in downtown Pea Ridge in 1880. We think high school and college courses continued for many years to be provided through the Pea Ridge College programs.
After 1894, the college became known as the Mt. Vernon Normal College, and around 1902, it took the name Mt. Vernon Masonic College. Of course, all through the years it was commonly known as the Pea Ridge College, and it offered courses similar to those offered by the University at Fayetteville, as well as providing a high school education. We think the High School became Pea Ridge Public High School in 1916, when the old college closed down.
Pea Ridge education began with high standards and high vision. We have a heritage in education that is worth our pride and appreciation, and worth our determined commitment to making a high quality education available to today's students. Our school reunions are also opportunities for us to catch up on what is happening in Pea Ridge public schools, and hopefully they allow us to make some inputs which will assist in advancing the quality and value.
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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Editorial on 07/16/2014