There was a nice crowd on hand to help celebrate. Because the temperature was in the low 40s, I’m guessing some folks stayed home. Had it been warm and sunny, I suspect more than 200 people might have been there. I was told the count was about 100.
Many people were involved in planning the memorial, and they all deserve a big thanks.
I have a couple of connections with Edgewood. I attended grade school there, and on Saturday I had the opportunity to visit with former classmates and students who were a few grades ahead of me.
Years later I drove a school bus that had a route connected to Edgewood. I visited with a couple of former riders and their families. I also spoke with a couple of former students who remembered that I had been a bus driver.
I was so pleased and surprised to see that former business owners and their families were present.
This dedication and previous reunions were coordinated by a couple of great guys who are former Edgewood students: Ted Lobdell and Barry Hix. They worked with the Perry Township School Board and the superintendent to obtain approval to have the memorial placed on school property.
The memories and the stories that have been shared over the past few years are wonderful. A few former students and friends told me that they had tears flowing when they first viewed the memorial.
After the ceremony we gathered at The Corner Bar at Old Meridian Street and Epler Avenue for lunch and to continue sharing our stories.
One of the memories that I shared was about the annual fish fry at Edgewood School. People could dine on-site or use the drive-thru. Those using the drive-thru entered off of Shelby Street and exited onto Epler. Sometimes that line through stretched north to almost Thompson Road.
Shonk is a 1960 graduate of Southport High School, a ’63 grad of Indiana Central College (now the University of Indianapolis) and a retired bus driver from Beech Grove Schools.