The ALEXANDRIA PAPERS #3

G O O D B Y E,   A L E X   H I G H

The other day, I experienced a feeling of dread as I scrolled past a headline that began with "Northr." Having sat through many a football game, my mind filled in the rest. N-O-R--T-H-R--I-D-G-E, LET'S GO! I always thought that was a bit quirky until I went to see my cheerleader daughter at Reynoldsburg when they traveled to Pickerington North. A Spelling Bee broke out that night.

My experience has usually been that Northridge is not a headline you see often - or want to see. But I knew it would happen. Alexandria will tear down another school.

Sometime around 1900, Alexandria built a schoolhouse that consolidated several one-room schoolhouses in the township. Things went quite well. Local teachers taught local children in a local school. Neighbors are neighbors are neighbors. There are so many names to parade in front of you - of teachers and principals - that I fear I would leave one out. Please comment.

Perhaps the most iconic feature to me was the Red Devil in the center court in the gym. There were some who used "Devil" synonymously with the Biblical Satan, or in Hebrew "Nakash." Perhaps a better name? Well, although I eat Devilled Ham, I refuse to eat Devilled Eggs. It is not because I believe these foods are Satanic, it's just because the word "devil" has more than one definition. And please, I do not like eggs, don't offer. I was also pleased to find out that several decades ago, the Newsletter/Student Paper was called "The Checkerboard" for the Red and Black.

I have so many memories invested in those rooms and teachers at Alexandria School. It tears me that those memories will lose their substance. I could walk here in the school and tell you what happened. Hopefully, I will be allowed to take home a brick.

Yes, there are economics to consider. But there is a community to consider. I still have questions.

Mitch Lynd can tell you tales of Alexandria in the 1950s. Bob Fisher, Beck Shaw, Betty Icenhouer, John Hankinson, and John Brooks, plus so many others, could fill in more details. Helen Irwin Cunningham - who was Dr. Fred Nichols 6th grade teacher - has left me with stories of hi-jinks involving the outhouse during football games behind the school.

Honestly, I don't know what to believe, think. or feel. The school board has been told to hang on to the property because -- reasons. Alexandria has had a poor record when it comes to municipality - the burnt Town Hall was never rebuilt. The bricks were repurposed as homes. So was Alexandria's first schoolhouse - on the northwest corner of SR 37 and CR 21 Northridge Road sits a house made of the foundation stones of Alexandria's first school.

Today it is hard to find a teacher who lives in the community where they teach, without regard to district. Personally, I was embarrassed more than once to follow, as a substitute at Northridge, to follow the lesson plans given by the teacher. Our neighbors are not necessarily our neighbors. Welcome to the 21st Century.

Perhaps it is best we tear down our past... perhaps we should look to the future. I mean, in the face of intrusion of a company and employes with no connection to our past, what impact will you accept? To be honest, I've seen it before.

AUTHORS NOTE: As I write this, Bischoff Braueri (Brewery) in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany - my favorite beer - just announced its closing. As in Steven King's The Langoliers, my past is being erased.