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West Side School
693 School House Rd.
Oconto County, Wisconsin
built 1909
 West Side School, located on Schoolhouse Road in Sobieski, was opened in 1909 and closed in 1960. Graduates reunited on July 7, 2000 to recall all of the fond memories. |
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contributed by:
Pat Drees
Memories sparked by reunion of one-room schoolhouse
by Jamie Liss
Pulaski News - December 28, 2000
by Jamie Liss
Pulaski News - December 28, 2000
Memories of an outhouse, carrying wood for the stove, and a teacher who did not take any sass from students were among graduates' fond recollections at the July 7, 2000 reunion for the one-room West Side School on Schoolhouse Road in Sobieski. About 70 graduates reunited who attended the school from 1999 through the last class in 1960.
Time has changed some faces and nametags came in handy at the reunion. "I haven't seen some of them for 50 or 60 years," Charlie Leja said. "If it wasn't for nametags, I wouldn't know some of these people."
The reunion of the one-room schoolhouse was pulled together by Ann Galkowski, who invited former students from Michigan to California to attend the gathering held at the Candle-glow Supper Club in Abrams.
"All eight grades were in one room," Abrams graduate Charlie Leja said. "There were 38 kids there when we went to school. You could have heard a pin drop, that's how we behaved."
"People were excited about it," Galkowski said. "The youngest one here is 47 years old. They're excited to see their old friends."
Mary Lou Pszanka Piper of sobieski, said she graduated in 1960 and had 21 people in the eight grades. "I was the only one in my class, all by myself. We were like one big happy family. Everybody played. It was wonderful. We all loved it."
Pszanka said even the inconveniences of the one-room schoolhouse drew the children together. "We had an outhouse, because there was no indoor plumbing. We had to carry in water and wood."
During the reunion, Louie Hylok and Mike VanLannen provided music. The day was a huge success. Not only did former graduates remember all the good times, but they also got to share all the wonderful things that they have achieved throughout their lives. Although this Sobieski schoolhouse closed in 1960, all of the memories still live on.
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