ThisWeek CW 08/25/2011
For the second year in a row, the Canal Winchester High School Alumni Association is partnering with the district to open the high school to graduates for tours, music and food during the Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival.
The second annual Canal Winchester High School Alumni Get Together will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 4, in the high school cafeteria at 300 Washington St. The event is free and open to alumni and their guests.
“Last year was the first one,” alumni association member John Bender said. “I’d like to see this become a part of the Labor Day festivities every year, and see it continue to grow. At (last year’s) event, most of the attendees were from the earlier classes, like the 1940s through 1960s, but hopefully, going forward we’ll get younger alumni to attend as a chance to see their friends and find out what they’re doing now.”
More than 100 graduates attended last year’s event, according to Canal Winchester Alumni Scholarship Association president Tom Delong; this year, organizers are planning for an even larger turnout.
“All of the big reunions – the five-, 10-, 20-year ones – happen over Labor Day weekend, so this is the perfect time for an event like this to get together with old friends,” Delong said.
A short program about the past, present and future of Canal Winchester schools, led by Superintendent Kimberley Miller-Smith and CWHS principal Lynn Landis, will take place during the gathering.
Delong will speak about awarding six $1,000 scholarships by the association this last spring, and how fundraising efforts are going to increase the number of scholarships awarded this school year. For more information about donating to the scholarship fund, visit www.facebook.com/groups/338512668572/.
“We’ve got outstanding kids who are just going great in so many areas, and there are a lot of changes coming through, like the new tennis courts,” Bender said. “This will be a chance to hear the principal and others speak about what’s going on here. We’ll havel (band director] Chad McGee and the kids from the band performing, along with student council representatives leading tours of the ‘new’ high school building.”
While tours of the high school will be conducted by student council, alumni who graduated prior to 1976 will have the opportunity to tour the “old” high school building where they were once students; tours will be conducted by school administrators.
A free dessert will be served, beginning at 5 p.m. in the cafeteria. For more information about this event, call Bender at (614) 833-4230 or email johnebender@gmail.com.