The Pierceton School Tribute is ready to be dedicated this weekend. (Photo provided)

PIERCETON — The Pierceton School Memorial Tribute is a dream come true for the 700-member Pierceton High School Alumni Association. The tribute has been completed on the site of the old school at the entrance to the new elementary school in Pierceton.

Becky Gregory, association president, says the tribute is a community project that has captured the spirit of the old high school with beauty and grace.

“The Pierceton School Memorial Tribute represents the wonderful heritage of our alma mater to the community and all of the students who will attend the new elementary school,” she said.

According to Gregory, alumni have given more than $56,500 to the project. The association has used the proceeds to build the tribute and surrounding Alumni Plaza as well as to fund an endowment to ensure it will be maintained it in the future. Gregory says the gifts will also enable the association to restore and display the class photos (1913 – 1971) and many of the trophies salvaged from the old high school building.

The association is planning a dedication ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4, to celebrate the completion of the project and to recognize the generosity of the many donors who supported the dream. Gregory said the program will include comments from Whitko Schools Superintendent Steve Clason and historian Joan Hostetler. The Whitko High School band will perform, “The Star Spangled Banner” and the old Pierceton High School fight song. A reception with entertainment and light refreshments will follow in the Pierceton Elementary School cafeteria.

The annual Pierceton School Alumni banquet will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 4, and is open to any person who ever attended classes in the Pierceton school building. Doors to the gymnasium will open at 5 p.m. For more information on either event, contact Gregory at (260) 402-1489.

Gregory reported that 120 engraved paver stones have been purchased to honor school alumni, faculty and staff who were part of the Pierceton school from 1923 through 2015. These pavers are laid in the Alumni Plaza on the north side of the tribute structure. Additional pavers may still be purchased but will not be laid until after the dedication ceremony.

According to Gregory, the tribute was designed by Barton-Coe-Vilamaa, Fort Wayne, whose concept incorporated many of the limestone features salvaged from the old school building. The building contractor, Fetters Construction, Auburn, recovered almost all of the limestone from the building, and the association is selling the remaining pieces to raise funds for other projects.

Additional information is available at facebook.com/Pierceton High School Alumni Association or by calling Gregory. Fundraising efforts for the Association are coordinated through the Kosciusko County Community Foundation (kcfoundation.org). Tax-deductible donations can be made online with a credit card or mailed to the Foundation at 102 E. Market St., Warsaw.