v26-4 Peirce 100th Anniversary

By Kathy Gemperle

It took months of preparation to organize this three day celebration. The culmination was a dedication of a new mural in front of the school at 1423 West Bryn Mawr and the honorary street naming of that section of Bryn Mawr for the celebration of 100 years serving Edgewater presided over by Alderman Harry Osterman.

Several teams of people worked on various aspects of the celebration which included an open house on October 24th attended by 500 people and a Gala evening celebration at Loyola University for about 180 people. Linda England headed up the committees and I represented the Edgewater Historical Society in the historical aspects of the open house. This included an exhibit with a panel for each of the ten decades that the school has been open. This was set up in the old gym along with special panels about the historic Kindergarten, the Peirce Speed Skating Club and the various plans for the playground over 100 years. The field house was also set up with an exhibit which was presented by Peggy Taylor and Ken Mason.

Former Principal Janice Rosales, Phd. took the lead on a power point presentation about the Kindergarten that was designed by George Elmslie. She also updated the written history of the school which was presented in booklet form at the Gala. Dr. Rosales also completed a power point presentation about the school which was shown in the multi purpose room during the open house. The events were a huge success on October 24th and the exhibit panels remained up during the month of November according the Principal Lori Zaimi.

Beth Tarrant, took the lead on planning for the Gala and Friends of Peirce presented an auction in order to raise funds for various enriching activities at the school. Of course T shirts were printed and beautiful note cards made available with designs based on the John W. Norton paintings in the Kindergarten room. It was a lovely celebration and many grads came back to the school to take a look around. Perhaps the oldest was George Anderson who came from Park Ridge with his wife. George graduated in 1941. That was a long time ago.