FORMER WAYNE SCHOOL — A group of graduates who once attended the former Wayne High School in Bloomingdale is planning to hold a special tribute ceremony on Memorial Day for the school’s alumni who have served in the military. Officials commented on the efforts the search took and the process used to locate some of these veterans, who will be remembered at the Town Hall on Monday. -- Contributed

BLOOMINGDALE — A group of former Wayne High School graduates will pay tribute to the former Bloomingdale school’s alumni who have served in the military, during a special ceremony scheduled to take place at the Town Hall on Monday.

According to 1967 graduate Sandy Hudnall Day, a committee was formed to research their alma mater’s men and women who have served in the military.

Day explained the process of how the group located the names of many of the former students, announcing the resources used to locate those findings from all those years ago.

Wayne High School opened its doors in 1936. The school closed in 1968 after the consolidation of Wintersville and Indian Creek.

Despite the building’s new name following the consolidation — Wintersville High School — those who once walked its halls still considered the structure to be home to the Wayne Wolves, their beloved mascot.

Day commented how the staff at the Schiappa Library, a branch of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, had published the details on the men and women who served in the military within Jefferson County.

The resource used by library staff to locate the information was the Steubenville Herald-Star newspaper, Day noted.

“The staff at the library chose the Korean War first, because it was one of the shortest wars,” she exclaimed. “We located the date that the war started and the date that it ended. We searched within those dates to locate any men and women who lived in Jefferson County, Ohio, at the time of that war.”

Once that process was complete, the team of graduates used the “old fashioned method of cut and paste” to obtain all of the information in order, by date.

“The last task was to index all of the names in the books,” Day continued. “The sets were sent to Alan Hall, who was the library director at that time. He sent the books out to have them hardbound. My contact with the Herald-Star was Janice Kiaski. I e-mailed her when the book was published and in the local history room. She asked me questions about the project and published it in the newspaper. We advertised in the Steubenville Herald-Star that we were publishing more books about the men and women in Jefferson County who served in other wars.”

These war books that were published included the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, Persian Gulf War and a book that combined the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

“With each war series, we advertised in the Herald-Star so that county residents could contact us about their veterans,” Day said. “Many people brought in photos and information on themselves. Others brought in information on their family members that served in the various wars.”

Day noted that in addition to herself, other library staff members who contributed to this effort included Lynn Evans, Janice Plante, Gail Provenzano, Ralph Parissi, Juli Paquette and Erika Grubbs.

“I indexed each set of war books for ease of use,” Day commented. “The set of books used for the Wayne High School project included World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.”

Day explained how in 1969, local students attending school in the Bloomingdale and Unionport areas were sent to Wintersville High School.

Those who attended Wayne, Mingo Junction and Wintersville high schools were consolidated into the Indian Creek School District.

Day stated she still possesses her class ring and high school diploma, which reads, “Indian Creek School District.”

Officers for the school district that year included County Superintendent Norman C. Sommers, Board President C.D. Clauss, Local Superintendent Troy Penner, Board Clerk Margaret Staib and Wayne High School Principal Sal Maffeo.