Onslow celebrates high school alumni reunion

     Over 100 alumni and spouses gathered for an Onslow High School Class Reunion on Saturday, July 8, in the Onslow Community Room.

     The first reunion was in 1987, and they have been held every five years. This year was the seventh reunion.

     Attendees came from near and far, including Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington, Kentucky and Iowa. The oldest alumni and also who traveled the farthest was Alice Ripperton Beckman, Tacoma, Wash., Class of 1940. From the Class of 1943 was Elizabeth French Brighton. The Class of 1954 had the highest attendance, eight. Being a small community, classes ranged from three to 10 in size. The largest class of 18 was in 1945. Faculty attendees were Lila Bramer Snyder and Pauline Antons.

     The first graduation class was in 1906, and 54 years later in 1960, the last class graduated. Through reorganization, Onslow merged with Wyoming in 1961. Since that time, Center Junction, Monmouth, Lost Nation, and Oxford Junction also became part of the Midland District. Photos of each Onslow graduation class now hang as a permanent display on the north wall of the Onslow Community Room. A trophy case displays the many trophies won by this small school.

     The present building was built in the summer of 1936, a federal P.W.A. (Public Works Administration) project. This was one of Roosevelt’s New Deal projects to give jobs to the many unemployed in the 1930s. They also built many post offices. After reorganization, the school was utilized for lower elementary classes for a number of years. It is now the home of Mat and Marilyn Gray.

     Howard Hall, a former student and resident of Onslow, who founded Iowa Manufacturing and lived in Brucemore, had been the donor of a high school scholarship since 1952. It is named the Grace Maple Award because of his great admiration and respect for his first teacher. It is now administered by the Onslow Presbyterian Church and given to an Onslow area graduate.

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