Congratulations to the seniors at Red Creek Central School who will graduate the night of Friday, June 22. Red Creek students are composed of children from Victory, North Victory, Westbury, Conquest, Butler, Sterling, Fair Haven and Red Creek. I remember fondly my years at Red Creek Central School, and have made many lifelong friends. It was and still is a wonderful place to grow up and earn a fine education. The picture shows me and my classmates at our reunion last June at the home of Barbara and Ted Kleege in Warners.
A small rural school, RCCS has been recognized as a high-performing school by the state Department of Education. It is a personalized and family-oriented school focused on community. The school buildings are in a single-campus location with up-to-date technology, a community recreation center and many opportunities for children in art, music and academics.
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RCCS has winning athletic teams, especially in soccer. Its science olympiad and envirothon programs continue to achieve at the state and national level, along with its music, literature and art programs. RCCS has also hosted many international students every year from many foreign countries.
The first schoolhouse in Red Creek was the academy in 1837, becoming Red Creek Union Academy in 1938, Red Creek Union Seminary in 1867 and Red Creek Seminary and Union School in 1895. The school was accredited by the board of regents in 1904 and became Red Creek High School, with its first graduating class in 1905. A new high school building was approved in 1939 along with the approval of the centralization of some 18 rural districts from Victory, Sterling, Wolcott and Butler to become Red Creek Central School. In 1949, a bus garage was built behind the high school. Four of the first bus drivers were from Victory: Charles White, Lena Houghtaling and Wayne and Bessie Coleman. In September 1955, a new elementary school, Margaret M. Cuyler Elementary School, was approved and dedicated on Nov. 18, 1956. It was built on the site of the former municipal airport on South Street. The class of 1963 was the first class to “graduate” from sixth grade from the Cuyler building.
A little bit of history: We had our first foreign exchange students beginning in 1958, when Eric Blakstredt came from Norway, and in 1960, when Tage Jensen came from Denmark. Marie Roach Caywood was the editor of the first yearbook, The Centralite, with the class of 1945. The school has gone through several mascots and names. In the '60s, the boys basketball team was called the Red Creek Riders, and the school colors were maroon and gold. Colors later changed to red and white in the late '60s and the mascot changed to the ram.
The student council planned and supervised the Moving-Up Day program in May each year, when new officers were elected, yearbooks distributed and a lovely picnic was held on the large lawn behind the school. Some of the teachers roasted hot dogs at the fireplace on the lawn and the cafeteria ladies made salads. Just for that day only, you could dress casual and wear shorts, sign each other’s yearbooks, make posters, attend council rallies, vote for student council representatives for high school grades and just have fun — no regular classes. It was a very enjoyable day for all.
Our band director, Mr. Edward Lisk, was very young when he came to RCCS in the fall of 1959. He played clarinet (which is probably why I played clarinet) and performed in the band at Three Rivers Inn, Phoenix, for visiting celebrities and their musical acts. He lives in Oswego now, and is world-renowned for his teaching and musical books and publications. The band and chorus made an LP record in 1963 and 1964. On July 1, 1965, the Senior Band and Honor Chorus performed at the World’s Fair in New York City.
We were preparing for a band concert at school on Nov. 22, 1963, when it came across the loudspeakers early that afternoon that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Our concert that night was dedicated to him, and very somber. It was one of the saddest times at school. We did not have but local channels in Syracuse then, so coverage was slow-coming and limited on television.
In the early 1970s, a new junior-senior high school was approved and dedicated on Feb. 3, 1974, at the southern end of the elementary school on South Street in Red Creek.
I served eight years on the alumni committee several years ago, and value our RCCS traditions. Grace Ford Durell, class of 1941, wrote our alma mater. The alumni banquet this year is Saturday, June 23. Please call Lisa Sidoti ASAP at (315) 237-1776 if you are interested or did not pay dues and get a notice.
Coming up in Victory and the vicinity:
• Wednesday, June 13: Soap-making class at the Throop Firehouse to support display exhibits at the Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park. To register, call (315) 776-4310 ASAP. Class limited to 30 people.
• 8 p.m. Friday, June 22: Red Creek Central School graduation at the high school
• Saturday, June 23: RCCS alumni banquet at the Elks club in Wolcott
• Saturday, July 14: 10th annual Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway of Honor Tribute Ride along Route 38 from Owego (Tioga County) to Hannibal (Oswego County). For more information, call Harvey Baker at (607) 898-3507.
• The Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park on Route 31 is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. It's also accessible from the Thruway (eastbound lane only) between Exits 41 (Waterloo) and 40 (Weedsport).
Beverly Coleman Sayles is the Victory town historian and a New York state registered historian, and can be reached at (315) 730-3183 or beverlycs65@gmail.com.