By Melanie Williamson
During the Tuesday, January 30, boys varsity basketball game, the public will be invited to tour the new Vermilion Local Schools District memorabilia room located inside Vermilion High School. This room displays an impressive collection of photos, awards, year books, jerseys, and other memorabilia highlighting the history of the district and its students. Superintendent Phil Pempin shared his excitement in being able to create this space and shared that it has been in the works for a while. He also shared that while they are still working on hours and arrangements, this room will be open to the public following its grand opening on January 30.
Vermilion High School Principal Lisa Deliz shared that the idea behind creating the room really came out of acknowledging the districts’ collection of memorabilia. She explained that they had boxes of items that they wanted to make available for people to see and enjoy. A great deal of work went into preparing the room, which included sorting through several boxes of memorabilia that had been in storage, organizing everything, and displaying it. This project was headed up by Tom Gentry and his class comprised of Devan DeWitt, Frank Day, Mike Peters, Hayden Elder, Lauren Bender, and Emma Beeler. Deliz shared that the students worked really hard to get the room ready and will be school ambassadors when visitors come to the room.
Pempin stated that they are happy to accept donations of memorabilia from residents, who wish to contribute. He also stated that if there are items a family would like to have displayed, but don’t want to donate to the district; they are more than happy to take items on loan. That way the items can be displayed and appreciated and then returned to the family. Any residents interested in donating or loaning memorabilia can bring items to the main entrance of the high school. Any questions should be directed to Tim Gentry at tgentry@vermilionschools.org or principal Deliz at ldeliz@vermilionschools.org.
vermilionphotojournalonline.com 