SJAA Legacy Exhibit – Reopens & Rejuvenated
October 2022

The SJAA Legacy Exhibit has been Rejuvenated!

First and foremost, we want to give a big shoutout to our pioneer Exhibiters, Eltha (Tremp) Hannum ’49, Louise (Ennenga) Brown ’52, Robert Nielsen ’58 and Jerry Still ’60 who initiated the Exhibit project over ten years ago. We also want to recognize Teena Stern, a professional curator and community supporter who advised the team on several museum-related protocols and procedures.

At the General Meeting in August, we presented service awards to our founding exhibitors. Eltha, Louise and Jerry have worked on exhibit projects every week for the past ten years. They did an amazing job gathering a lot of memorabilia. Robert has lovingly cared for our most prized possession – the antique clock that ran the bells in the original school. We hope you enjoy what they’ve done on your next Legacy Exhibit tour.

We have added new signage, state, and national flags, and one display case that will be devoted to each class reunion that tours the Exhibit such as the Class of 1952 seen above. Reunion Committees will be given the opportunity to add their own memorabilia to the case.

During the rejuvenation efforts, more SJHS memorabilia was placed in areas for easy viewing as current students, board members and the Class of ‘52 have been able to experience. The Class of ’52 graduates spent a lot of time researching our 100 plus copies of annuals for family members that also graduated from SJHS. They are coming back to do more research. These alum’s huddled together to share the enjoyment of their finds and stories.

The Class of 1962 is planning a visit to the Exhibit during their upcoming reunion in October. Two other reunions are currently scheduling their visits. We encourage you to visit the Exhibit, which is available after 3:30 on school days and scheduled times on Saturdays. Gayle is your exhibit contact at: gaylegaylord@sbcglobal.net 

The Rejuvenation team spent every week this summer preparing materials and then applying them to the exhibit. Thank you to Gayle Rasmussen-Gaylord ’64, Lynn Townsend-Adams ’73 and her husband, Randy Adams ’73, Emil Urac ’64, John Peacock ’64, Larry Fritz ’73, Jerry Still ‘60 and Teena Stern for their hard work!

We are looking for alumni who are interested in helping with displays so we can rotate them more frequently. They typically take just a few hours of effort. We identify the display theme, pull the materials together and then spend time on Tuesday mornings assembling the display. It is fun and provides lots of trips down memory lane. Think about joining us!