Community Joins Hanawalt in Commemorating Centennial
Hanawalt’s history is long and rich and there are any numbers of ways to measure and demonstrate that.
You could visit the school’s website and peruse the 1,400 word synopsis of the last century that’s posted there, courtesy, no doubt, of one of Hanawalt’s countless proud alums. Turns out one of the early principals was a real Lulu and none other than P.T. Barnum helped the school’s namesake, ol’ Doc Hanawalt, raise money to establish the precursor of Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. There’s plenty more where those bits came from and some of it was on display yesterday during a community open house to mark the centennial year of the landmark school.
Tables were laid out in the gym that broke down a century, decade by decade, with photos and yearbooks. The time capsule that was buried in 1989 on the 75th anniversary was on display. Alums of various vintage roamed the halls along with current students, some of whom are 4th generation.
The building, like any schoolhouse, has its own unique atmosphere that blends the past, present and future like unseen gases in the air. Memories are made visible and permanent on artwork that’s posted on bulletin boards, walls and benches.
This year, the current crop of students created artworks by grade levels. The pieces were sold at the Centennial Auction to raise money for a new track, plans for which were also on display at yesterday’s event.
Since construction was completed the original building, fondly referred to nowadays as “The Castle,” has been expanded three times; in 1919, 1972 and 2004. That most recent project was jointly funded by tax revenues and the private philanthropy of the Hanawalt community. Next is the track. Or maybe moat would be a better term for the ring around these grounds.
Schools and the students that pass through them leave lots of marks on one another. Right outside the main entrance at Hanawalt is a wall that’s made of memorial bricks, another ongoing fundraising campaign. Most of them are labeled with the names of former students. But those names are just a hint of what’s been taken from this place and what’s been left behind in trade. Only places like this can be literally a hundred years young. The names change but the ages and sizes never do.
