Robert “Chip” Zelch and alumni from multiple classes at the junior high school on Maryland, which was demolished last summer, stopped by in recent weeks to donate artifacts to the museum’s East End collection.

Zelch, who attended East Junior High in 1959-1960 and eventually graduated from East Liverpool High School in 1963, said that his schoolmates believed the gesture was appropriate for sharing their love for the school and the East End in general.

For example, before demolition began in late May 2023, some pieces from the gymnasium floor were salvaged and made into a 2-foot by 3-foot replica by Zelch from the original planks. The gymnasium was a popular place within the building, whether it be for its physical education classes, the 1961 award-winning basketball team of Dominic Cascio or even a site for neighborhood pickup games in later years.

In addition, Zelch recently came into possession of a wood figure of Cascio, who had been memorialized by the school’s industrial arts’ teacher after winning that 1961 championship. After adding a pedestal salvaged from the gym floor, where Cascio also served as the gym teacher for male students, this also was donated for the East End exhibit.

Bobby Smith, now East Liverpool’s mayor, admires the collection of artifacts donated by his fellow schoolmates of East Junior High School, which was demolished last year. The alumni has gotten together and donated the items to the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame, which has an exhibit memorializing the beloved school. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

Other classmates also are looking in their childhood memory boxes for mementoes to donate to the museum.

Michelle Roberts, museum director of operations, has confirmed that the received items, which also included a small panther, which had been gifted to one of the alumni out of a school showcase, will be added the existing collection that includes several paintings on East Junior by local artist Craig Wetzel, old yearbooks, old basketball pictures and a cheerleading jacket.

“We are looking to enhance the current display,” she explained, adding that life in East End holds a special place for many of the families that grew up there.

Zelch explained on the East End in the 1950s, “The students and families came from various backgrounds, but we realized that we had so much in common despite our cultural differences. We were very blessed.”

Clarence Means, who was the principal of East Junior High School, was responsible for much of that school’s reverence.

Alumni of East Junior High School gathered Saturday at Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame in downtown East Liverpool gathered Saturday to donate mementos from their beloved school for an exhibit at the museum, including salvaged items like the school’s clock, a ceramic black panther and repurposed planks from the gymnasium floor. Pictured are front, left to right, Huck Steffen, 1959; Karen Frederick, 1975; Chip Zelch, 1950; back row, Bobby Smith, 1974; and Rick Steffen, 1965. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

“It was like lightning in a bottle. It all just came together, and love flowed through that building,” he said.

Students learned quickly. There would be no hats worn inside the building, which was a place of respect. Nor would one wear street shoes on that pristine gym floor.

Bobby Smith, who now is mayor of his hometown, had attended East Junior High School himself in the early 1970s. East Liverpool had two neighborhood schools in those days, when graduating classes ran in the 400s compared to now.

“We had Westgate down by Patterson Field for the west side, and East Junior was our east end school,” he said. “It was a close knit city, and East End was just like our own little self-sufficient town.”

Roberts said that she still is searching for additional historical information and donations for the exhibit. She can be reached at 330-386-5443 to share their contributions in the display.

Harry Wright, a museum volunteer, holds up the clock salvaged from the East Junior High School that had been donated to the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame, which has created an exhibit commemorating the school for its former students. Students in grades 7-9 from the east end of town attended classes there until East Liverpool City School District decided to abandon the building, which had significant environmental issues. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

Zelch remembers his college years, noting that eventually he would graduate and head off to The Ohio State University, where his fellow students would question his decision to socialize with other cultural backgrounds in the midst of civil rights movement. He had appreciated those lessons surrounding multiculturalism learned on the city’s East End.

He concluded, “I used to tell people that I really did grow up in Mayberry, but there were steel mills there.”

Harry Wright, a museum volunteer, holds up the clock salvaged from the East Junior High School that had been donated to the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame, which has created an exhibit commemorating the school for its former students. Students in grades 7-9 from the east end of town attended classes there until East Liverpool City School District decided to abandon the building, which had significant environmental issues. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

Museum volunteer Harry Wright (center) talks to schoolmate Chip Zelch (right), as they try to discuss a photo that Zelch is donating to the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame’s exhibit memorializing East Junior High School, which was demolished last year. A group of East schoolmates came together Saturday morning to view the exhibit and donate their own mementos to the museum for inclusion. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

East Liverpool Mayor Bobby Smith (center), himself an alumni of East Junior High School, discusses memories shared within the school’s exhibit Saturday at the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame. The building was razed last year under his predecessor’s administration due to environmental issues. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

This wood cutout of Dominic Cascio, a longtime coach for East Junior High School, that had been made by the industrial arts teacher was donated to the East Junior High School exhibit in the Upper Ohio Valley Museum and Learning at the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame. The school was demolished last year, but certain mementos, like planks of the gymnasium floor where Cascio had not only overseen the male students’ physical education but also led his basketball team to championships, was salvaged to make a pedestal under the Cascio figure. The mementos were gifted to the museum Saturday by former students of the beloved school. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)