by Kate Martin
Edison Elementary School staff, family members and students attend the dedication of the new greenhouse, which was donated to the school by the former Edison Alumni Association.
BURLINGTON — Every year since its founding, the members of the Edison Alumni Association met on a Saturday night in August to socialize, eat and catch up on the previous year.
But last August, only nine showed during the annual dinner, said Ernie Peterson, Edison High School class of 1940. Even the youngest members of the Edison Alumni Association are approaching their mid-80s.
Though the school closed in 1943, when Burlington-Edison High School opened, the spirit of its alumni continued on.
“I hated to see the old school go, but it was time to replace it, I guess,” Peterson said. And for years, the alumni association continued so its members could stay in touch.
But with the recent dissolution of the alumni group, its members decided to donate the balance of its alumni fund to buy a greenhouse for Edison Elementary School.
When the association was young, members attended yearly dances on a Saturday night, either at the Burlington Community Center or the old Allen Grange Hall, said Eva Pierson, class of 1941. More than 300 members attended those initial events, she said.
“Slowly, it just ceased,” said Pierson, the alumni group’s treasurer.
Pierson, who was in the homemakers’ club and the glee club, despite an admitted lack of singing talent, said the alumni association was held together for so long by a shared fondness of the old school. Members initially paid $5 a year, which paid for student scholarships and alumni activities.
But fewer and fewer members showed up at the annual dinner, and yearly dues piled up. A considerable balance remained after the association disbanded two years ago.
After two years of discussion, members of the Edison Alumni Association donated the final $2,833 to the elementary school to pay for a greenhouse, Peterson said. The greenhouse will link students with the area’s agricultural roots.
“We all thought this would be a fitting solution,” Pierson said of the remaining alumni funds.
In the 1940s, school districts were small because many students walked to school. The graduates of Edison High School were close, Pierson said, and she suspects the dinners will continue as long as members want to attend. But continuing as a formal group seemed less practical.
“You just can’t keep it going if you don’t have the bodies,” Pierson said.
On Dec. 16, Pierson and Peterson helped dedicate the greenhouse at the elementary school. In the greenhouse, dubbed “Ernie’s Place,” each student will plant something in the greenhouse, starting with Mother’s Day flower baskets, said Donna Cole, seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Edison Elementary.
Cole has grand plans for the greenhouse. She talked about using rainwater and gravity feeds to water the plants. Eventually, they could hang rain gutters along the inside roof to hold tiny seedlings until they are ready for larger pots.
“Some of my (students) have never planted anything,” Cole said. “They’re going to do it now, darn it.”
Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at .
