Efforts to save the old Burket High School score clock led to display cases being filled with past high school memorabilia from what is now Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation. (Photos by Amanda McFarland)

AKRON — Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation covers a number of towns and, at one time, each had its own high school. Thanks to the efforts of several area residents, those schools’ memories are on display for all to see and reminisce.

Tippecanoe Valley High School houses several display cases near its gym, each holding special memorabilia from a different former high school, including Burket, Beaver Dam and Talma. Akron and Mentone also had high schools, however that memorabilia is on display in those towns’ respective elementary school buildings.

Instrumental in gathering the memorabilia are Wayne and Joyce Cumberland, Peg Eaton, Linda Tucker, Judy Haney, Dan Kramer and TVSC Superintendent, Brett Boggs. These and other individuals have worked to create and organize the displays so that the community can see and enjoy that part of its history.

“The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is blessed with individuals who care deeply about the ancestry of our schools and have put countless hours into collecting and attractively displaying memorabilia from Beaver Dam, Burket, and Talma High Schools at Tippecanoe Valley High School,” Boggs said. “A stroll through the north entrance leading to the Tippecanoe Valley High School gym takes one back to the days when the young people in our community were served by these schools. Tippecanoe Valley thanks these individuals for helping keep the history of these schools alive in our community. Tippecanoe Valley also thanks the many Beaver Dam, Burket and Talma alumni who have donated memorabilia for others to enjoy.”

The project began in 2010 with a conversation between Boggs and Kramer about how they could save the old scoreboard from Burket High School. This, in turn, led to the idea of finding other memorabilia. Soon, announcements were going out and the public responded. Volunteers stepped forward to manage the collections. Donations came in totaling around $700 and Eli Zimmerman was hired to build identical display cases, each housing memorabilia from a different school.

Today, the scoreboard is now on display above a case full of Burket memorabilia. It still lights up and is turned on for every Tippecanoe Valley High School home game.

Not all of the high schools closed at the same time. Burket’s last graduating class was in 1955 and Beaver Dam’s was in 1962. Talma also closed in the 1960s, though the middle school continued in operation until a tornado damaged much of the town about a decade later.

While items are accepted from each school, Boggs and Kramer are especially interested in items from Talma High School, which is currently the smallest collection on display.

Boggs invites anyone who has items they would like to loan or donate to contact him at the TVSC administration office, (574) 353-7741 or email [email protected].