By SAVANNAH BARR

s.barr@bradfordera.com

High school is an important time in people’s lives. It’s where the foundations of adulthood begin — friendships are forged and passions are discovered in classrooms, on stages, courts and fields. It’s where we first begin to define who we are and dream of who we might become.

Those who have attended Bradford Area High School are invited to take a walk down memory lane as the school celebrates its 100th year in operation. The public is invited to join students and staff as they celebrate 100 years of history, memories and Owl pride at 12 p.m. May 23 at the school.

Originally opened Sept. 6,1925, Bradford Area High School took $500,000 to build and was constructed entirely of local bricks. Thousands of visitors were reported to visit the school upon opening, according to documentation from Bradford Landmark Society.

To celebrate the grand BAHS… page A-8

Bradford Area High School will commemorate 100 years with a celebration set for May 23.

Era file photo opening, students and faculty put together a now 100-year-old time capsule, which will be opened during the centennial celebration.

“I am so excited to see the things that are in the time capsule,” said Courtney Hedlund, English teacher at the school and an organizer of the event.

Inside are reportedly copies of The Bradford Era, Bradford Herald and Bradford Star, along with articles about the construction of the school. It also includes a Bible presented by Martha Sprout, a silver “Peace” dollar and letters from politicians and dignitaries.

“We will also be putting together a new time capsule,” said Hedlund.

The new time capsule is set to include a map of the school, a map of Bradford, digital scans of yearbooks from 1919 to 2017, a school shirt, U.S. coin collection, a student handbook and used student planner, among other items.

“We currently have six letters written by students about their daily life at the high school,” said Hedlund. “They did a competition earlier in the year to decide those.”

Following that assembly, the crowd will be taken on a walking tour of the school. The conference room will be fitted out with documents, photos and other artifacts from the school’s history, including pre-1925 artifacts from the old school building that was located on Mechanic Street.

The crowd will then adjourn for some refreshments in the library, where eye-catching displays will feature the history of the clubs and sports that students have enjoyed throughout the years.

“We also have a veterans’ display featuring the senior photos of the veterans who graduated from here,” said Hedlund.

Take a walk down memory lane and see how the school has evolved over the last 100 years.

“In 1964-65 the new auditorium was created,” said Hedlund. “While it was being constructed they had classes for half the day and some of the students had to go to other schools.”

In 1970 the football field was redesigned and there were also significant renovations done in 1998.

Hedlund hopes that the celebration helps students both current and former appreciate the legacy to which they belong.

“We are all part of something bigger and I hope this helps people realize that,” said Hedlund. “Especially legacy students whose parents and grandparents have gone here — that is pretty remarkable.”

In all, the school has graduated 25,222 alumni since 1925. Some notable ones include journalist Johnny Nelson, who gave the Owls their name. He also named six other high school’s mascots — the Smethport Hubbers, Port Allegany Gators, Kane Wolves, St. Bernard Ramblers and the Eldred Eagles. He became the first sports writer for the Bradford radio station WESB in 1947 and would go on to have a long career as the sports information director at Alfred University.

Graduate Robert Pflug would coach Bradford High football for many years throughout the 1930s. He went on to coach football at Princeton and Brown. He would have 129 wins and 26 losses throughout his career.

There have been six NFL players who graduated from Bradford Area High School. One of them was Stew Barber, who played offensive tackle with the Buffalo Bills from 1961 to 1969.

All of these graduates and more will be featured during the centennial.

Those who wish to attend are asked to register in advance. Although people can simply show up that day, preference will be given to those who register beforehand. People can express their interest by calling the school at (814) 362-3841 or sending an email to rneumann@bradfordareaschools. org. “I hope people walk away from this,” Hedlund said, “realizing that BAHS has contributed a lot to the community and the world as a whole.”