Expanded celebration

Schools across the country celebrate homecoming each fall.

Parades are held, kings and queens crowned, football games played.

Fifty years ago, local students were celebrating together for the first time.

Jay County Junior-Senior High School will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first homecoming this weekend with a wide variety of special activities in addition to the usual celebration.

“It’s bigger than football,” said JCHS athletics director Alex Griffin. “To me, it’s about just another opportunity for our community to come together …”

Friday's festivities will include welcoming back former JCHS football coach Tom Bruin, inaugural homecoming queen Chris (Evans) Abernathy and members of the Class of 1976. A celebrity chef will present cooking demonstrations with food to sample during the pre-game tailgate and a military helicopter will deliver the game ball for the Patriots as they take on the Class 2A No. 7 Bluffton Tigers.

First as Patriots

The first homecoming in the history of Jay County High School was Saturday, Oct. 18, 1975.

That year marked the opening of the new school, as the remaining five high schools in the county — Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey, Pennville and Bryant — merged into one. (Poling, Gray and Madison had all closed in the previous 12 years.)

Unlike the projected forecast of sunny skies and a high in the 80s for Friday, the first homecoming was a dreary affair. “Inclement weather kept all but the most loyal of supporters home for the first homecoming,” The Commercial Review reported.

For the team, though, it was a success, with Ron Allen scoring on a pair of 2-yard runs in the second quarter. Dave Fullenkamp added a 15-yard scoring scamper in the third quarter and Duane Sautbine caught a 24-yard pass from Randy Weisel as the Patriots beat Winchester 24-0.

“The defense gets the credit for this one,” Bruin told CR sports editor Russ Carson after the game. “it was a real team effort, a team defense.”

The win improved Jay County to 6-2 on the season.

Queen to crown

Abernathy remembers being 17, standing on the track at Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium, the first girl in the school’s history to be crowned homecoming queen.

“I was so blessed to be able to be crowned the homecoming queen at the new school,” said Abernathy, who was also a Miss Jay County Fair Queen. “The girls with me were all great candidates, wonderful people.”

Now a resident of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, she is coming back as part of the 50th anniversary celebration and will ride in Friday evening’s homecoming parade. (Other members of the inaugural class will be behind her.) During halftime, she will crown a 2026 senior — candidates are Paisley Fugiett, Faith Faulkner, Emma Hatzell, Lilly Johnson, Elizabeth Barnett, Lauren Fisher and Finley Hatzell — as this year’s queen.

After graduating from JCHS, Abernathy attended trade school and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Purdue University. She worked in advertising, developed educational tools for churches and helped schools and other organizations with fundraising projects.

“I’m just so blessed to be able to call Jay County my forever home,” she said. “It’ll always be home.”

One of the decorative displays in at Jay County Junior-Senior High School this week features letter jackets from the eight schools that preceded Jay County High School. On top, from left, are the Portland Panthers, Pennville Bulldogs, Redkey Wolves and Dunkirk Speedcats. Bottom row are the Madison Tomcats, Poling Yellowjackets, Gray Redbirds and Bryant Owls. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

Bruin coming back

Bruin, 86, who now lives in Muncie, will return to the stadium where he led the Patriots for their first 17 seasons.

The first win in the history of the JCHS football program came against Friday’s homecoming opponent — Bluffton — by a 7-0 score. The inaugural team won its final five games, including shutouts of South Adams, Winchester and Eastbrook, to finish 8-2.

Bruin had winning records in each of his first 15 seasons, with his best coming in 1981 when they won their first eight games including shutouts of Bellmont, Blackford and Yorktown. They beat Bluffton 40-28 to improve to 8-0 before falling 31-0 to Delta in the second-to-last game. They closed the year with another shutout, beating Mississinewa 30-0.

He went 106-59 at Jay County, the only coach in the school’s history with a winning record.

Celebrity cook-out

Between the parade and the homecoming game, chef Fernanda Tapia will headline the tailgate.

Born in Chile and now based in Boston, Tapia runs the private chef firm Ferncooks. She has a line of hot sauces called Tapi Papi. 

She competed on the Food Network show “Chopped,” winning her competition in 2019. She returned to the show for a “Chopped Champions” tournament featuring 15 previous victors, advancing to the finals and ultimately finishing in second place. She also appeared on the show “Beat Bobby Flay.”

Tapia will present cooking demonstrations from 6 to 7:30 p.m. before the game. Free samples of her braised short ribs, Johnny cakes and apple-serrano salsa will be offered.

Air delivery

Superintendent Jeremy Gulley announced during Monday’s Jay School Board meeting that a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter will deliver the game ball for Friday’s action.

“That’s not something I see very often at a football game,” Gulley said, chuckling.

The school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program arranged for the special delivery.

The helicopter will land in the practice field area west of the field before the game. A military vehicle will drive the ball to the stadium, where JROTC students will then take it to present to Bruin.

Ready to celebrate

Students spent last weekend decorating the hallways of Jay County High School with memories of decades past. 

There are photos showing different aspects of life from each decade since the school opened in 1975. Windows along the guidance office have letter jackets representing the previous high schools and their mascots — the Panthers, Speedcats, Wolves, Bulldogs, Owls, Tomcats, Yellowjackets and Redbirds.

“As kids have prepared the floats and the hallways, they’ve gotten old yearbooks out and they’ve looked through history talking about consolidation,” said 2008 JCHS graduate Zach Keller, now a teacher at the school and a student council advisor. “It’s been fun to share the history with them and for them to explore on their own.”

They’ve hunted through the yearbooks, finding photos of their parents and grandparents from those high school days.

And in the lead-up to Friday’s festivities, they’ve gotten insight into the importance of their high school years.

“Our Class of 2026, they see everybody else coming in from 50 years ago,” said Jessica Lloyd, another student council advisor. “This matters. Your time capsule matters. Everything you do does get remembered. That’s a nice thing to see and realize.”