By Sue Moore
I realize the passing of time when it comes to Superintendent Charlie Glaes announcing his retirement. There have only been seven individuals holding that title in Vicksburg since WWII, beginning with Bill Taylor. He initiated a seismic shift in the school district by consolidating the outlying country schools. Old timers might remember what a collision of values that created with the townies vs. the country kids taking up seats right beside each other in the classroom for the first time in 1948.
Those were not the good old days in my memory bank. We were crowded into classrooms at what is now the Administration building, the most fun being a secret ride down the fire escape on the south side of the building. There were so many students that some grades had to be outsourced to other buildings in the village.
Each succeeding superintendent, Ken Otis, Larry Cole, Denny McMahon, Pete Wharton, Pat Reeves, and Charlie, has left his legacy on the school district. What has distinguished their time in charge has been the cooperation between administration and the school board members. The people who have been willing to give of their time and intellect have been the glue that make receiving a quality education in the Vicksburg school district happen. I remember in my era with great fondness the ones who set the standard: Dr. Arle Schneider, Denny Boyle, Dr. Lloyd Appell and Skip Knowles. They led as presidents when money was tight and the will to tax ourselves was not always apparent.
Fortunately, the citizens of the school district have seen fit to keep the buildings in good order with funding for repairs, while the state suffered through some hard times. Local control has been the mantra since consolidation, but when we choose to accept the money from the state of Michigan, much of that goes by the wayside. The seven superintendents I’ve mentioned have been great keepers of the flame. Now it’s time to pass it forward to a new leader who will benefit greatly from all that has been accomplished over the last 70 plus years.
Gazette Connections
Jack Moss, another old timer for those of you who read his sports columns in the Kalamazoo Gazette, has been retired for many years and now lives in Savannah, Georgia with his daughter’s family. Del Newell, a home-grown sports reporter at the Gazette keeps in contact and reports that at 91 Jack can still remember the many sports stats he reported over the years. He suffers from Parkinson’s but will still quote them verbatim, even the ones he was accused of making up.
Village Clean Up and Pick Up Days
Both Schoolcraft and Vicksburg villages will collect the detritus that residents have collected over the winter on Saturday, May 19. They urge people to have materials set out on the curbside by Thursday or Friday evening at the latest. Just don’t let it set there for more than a week in advance, especially in Vicksburg when the Hearty Hustle takes place on Saturday, May 12. The runners are routed through the heart of the village so it’s nice for them to see beautiful flowers and trees in bloom all along the way, not old sofas and refrigerators.