When there were eight

Once upon a time, there were eight.

And the Jay County Historical Society wants the memories of that "once upon a time" preserved for future generations.

"It's bloomed into quite a thing," society volunteer Dave Frasher said this week.

The organization is focusing this year's Heritage Festival - slated for Oct. 3 and 4 - on high school sports history of Jay County in the era when there were eight high schools.

"The history is pretty fantastic," said Frasher. He's been working with sports historians like Les Eads to gather as much memorabilia and as many memories of that era as possible.

The historical museum has a rich collection, complete with the old Redkey High School basketball scoreboard and auditorium seats from the 1925 Portland High School building. It also houses a collection of letter jackets and sweaters from the eight schools.

Who were the eight?

• Bryant High School, in operation from 1899 to 1975.

• Dunkirk High School, in operation from 1891 to 1975.

• Gov. I. P. Gray High School, in operation from 1880 to 1965.

• Madison High School, in operation from 1922 to 1967.

• Pennville High School, in operation from 1897 to 1975.

• Poling High School, in operation from 1899 to 1964.

• Portland High School, in operation from 1877 to 1975.

• Redkey High School, in operation from 1892 to 1975.

Frasher noted that the youngest graduates of schools such as Poling are now in their 60s, and it's important to gather their stories and celebrate their era.

He's looking for uniforms, fight songs, old photographs and scorebooks. In addition, Falcon Mint of Portland will be producing a commemorative medallion bearing the legend: "When There Were Eight."

"I think it's going to be pretty cool," he said.

To get the word out, Frasher has distributed thousands of flyers and attended the alumni banquet for the school's, each of which has designated contact people for those interested in participating.

Here's the contact list for the schools:

• Bryant - Judy Williamson, 260-726-3638.

• Dunkirk - Donna May, 260-726-8769, and Leo Glogas, 765-768-6689.

• Gray - Ingrid Saxman, 260-726-4905, and Brice Hudson, 260-726-4154.

• Madison - Kay LeMaster, 260-729-5152, and Larry Paxson, 260-726-6612.

• Pennville - Dick Davidson, 260-335-2257.

• Poling - Max Blowers, 260-997-6523, and Art Habegger, 260-589-1418.

• Portland - John Coldren, 260-726-9503, and Glen Bryant, 260-726-7546.

• Redkey - Les Eads, 260-726-8667, and Sandy Kirby, 765-369-2064.[[In-content Ad]]