Linda Steele Originals ~ Designs & Sculptures

ALUMNI SQUARE

Leetonia High School
Built 1937

Washingtonville Public School
Built 1871-Rebuilt 1912

For her design, Linda was nominated for the Governor's Award for the Arts 2003
Ohio Individual Artist of the Year

LHS ALUMNI SQUARE
DEDICATED AUGUST 26, 2005

2002 was the start of saving key elements of the old Leetonia High School, built in 1937 and the Washingtonville School Public School originally built in 1871 then rebuilt after a fire in 1912. Linda incorporated the key elements and designed Alumni Square which now serves as the grand entrance to the Leetonia football stadium. Built from the same bricks as the high school, the left wall features the Leetonia High School header and the 1937 corner stone. The right wall has the Washingtonville header stone and the two dated stones. The center building is the new home for the bell that was made by

and serves as a ticket booth. The ceiling in the bell tower is made from the old home bleachers from the gym. The flagpole stood tall in from of the old high school now stands proud at Alumni Square. In front of the bell tower is the stadium rock from the old football stadium.


LHS school bell	P

O	P

Alumni Weekend August 26, 2005
Alumni Square-Bell Tower Dedication

Ed & Cleon Smith, Will & Linda Lutz, Gary & Linda Steele, Cindy & Tom Rodrick, Jean & Dennis Holt,

Ceiling in the bell tower made from the home bleacher seats from the high school gymnasium.

Five years later the all school alumni banquet was held. Cindy Rodrick requested the sports banners that used to hand in the old gym be put on display for the banquest. As a result of seeing the school pride, the new superintendent, Mr. Mehno requested the banners be hung in the new school auditorium bringing them home where they belong.

Leetonia championship banners, saved by alumni, hung with pride at new school

October 27, 2010 - By KEVIN HOWELL

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LEETONIA- Visitors to the Leetonia K-12 Campus may notice some reminders of the old high school on Walnut Street. Thanks to the effort of a group of dedicated alumni, the school has incorporated the cloth athletic championship banners that used to hang in the old gymnasium. The banners are now displayed in the cafetorium at the campus, strung around the wall above the room and virtually engulfing visitors in the Leetonia tradition, according to Superintendent Rob Mehno.

"There is a lot of community pride- school pride- and support in Leetonia, so when I found out about [the banners], I thought this was something that needed to be done," he explained. Despite the pride that Mehno referenced, the banners, as well as numerous other pieces of memorabilia from the old school, were almost lost forever. "The wrecking balls weren't flying yet, but they were there," said Linda Steele, a proud alumna who, along with about eight others, fervently retrieved anything they could before the school was razed in 2002.

"I had heard that they were only saving the bell, and I was shocked; I didn't think that was enough," she continued. "There were boxes of things ready to be moved that hadn't been, trophies still in their cases, so much history that had been left behind." Although no one knew exactly why the items had been left, the alumni made sure it would not be lost forever. "We got permission to go in and then we took everything we could get our hands on," said fellow alumna, Cindy Rodrick. "It's our history, our memories; it's a part of us."

After eight years of storage, the Alumni Committee included the banners in its all-class reunion in September, hanging them in the hallway leading to the dining area. And Mehno took notice. "I knew they had planned to do it, and I thought that something similar might add some character to the school, too, but when I saw them all there in one place, the emotion was overwhelming," Mehno said. So now they are part of the new school. "They finally have a place, a home again," Steele said. "Even though it's a new school (building), we still need the old traditions that these banners represent."

Kevin Howell can be reached at khowell@salemnews.net