DURHAM — It will be the end of an era on Saturday for the town when Durham Elementary School, the first and only centrally located school, will cease to exist at 50 years.

Built in 1960, the school replaced several small schools located throughout Durham and for the first time, all children in the town attended the grade 1-8 school, many of them meeting for the first time.

On Saturday, June 12, former students, family, friends and neighbors have been invited to join together for a 50th celebration of the school.

The festivities will begin with a pancake breakfast at the adjacent Eureka Community Center from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The breakfast will be followed by fun-filled events at 2 p.m. at Durham Elementary.

They include a fun fair and cow chip raffle by the fifth-grade students and parents, games, a video of Durham Elementary from its opening in 1960 to the present and much more.

A lunch cart will be provided by the fifth-grade class.

Members of the first graduating class are expected to be on hand. Among those first graduates will be the well-known host of the event, Peter Hunter.

A limited number of T-shirts with the Durham Elementary School logo will be available at $10 each. Also available are memorial bricks to be put on a pathway at the new school that can be personalized with names or a symbol. The brick order forms are currently available at the school office; call Deb Purinton at 353-9333. They will also be available on Saturday. For further information on the celebration, call Deb at 240-1637.

Demolition of the old school is expected to begin in early July. 

A new modern 28-room facility, which is nearing completion, will open for classes in September. This state-of-the-art building with geothermal heating and cooling, which has been named Durham Community School, will be dedicated in ceremonies at an open house on Aug. 25, time to be announced.