BEMUS POINT – Since about the 1970s, Maple Grove Jr./Sr. High School has held a celebration on the last day of school before winter break begins.

This celebration sees a range of retired teachers and school employees returning to have breakfast with, and get to meet, the current staff. With the most recent event having been hosted this past month, many recall some of the earliest of the events and why it still holds such a special place to many today.

Scott Lewellen recalls some of the earliest instances of the event, having begun at the school in the 1980s. But Lewellen is even more closely tied to the event being that it was initially begun by his mother, who had been an English-Latin teacher at the school. Others that Lewellen stated were crucial in the formation of the event included Lorin Hunt and Chuck Begert. Lewellen recalled picking up the coordinating effort for the event while working at the school, and expressed such gratitude for the many teachers since that have kept up with the tradition.

“I am very appreciative that there have been teachers behind me to pick up that mantle, and organize it, and continue it,” said Lewellen. “It’s an appreciation time, that we are in a good spot. We are very fortunate to have the type of kids, and the type of community, we serve.”

Pat Rizzo, a Falconer teacher of 23 years, has been involved in coordinating and planning the breakfast for the last eight years. Rizzo went through the timeline of what occurs throughout the breakfast which, surprisingly, has hardly changed at all from the older events described by Lewellen. Rizzo stated that preparations typically begin at five o’clock in the morning, when some of the current teaching staff arrives to begin cooking. Rizzo noted an extravagant breakfast that is made including pancakes, coffees, fruits, etc. All of the proceeds are raised by the current teachers for the event as well, according to Rizzo.

At 6 a.m. the rest of the teaching staff and retirees begin to show up. Rizzo stated that it has long been a tradition to have a musical performance at the event, which is typically done by the school’s singing group, MG Voices. The members of the group come and perform some music during the event and are treated to breakfast as a thank you, according to Rizzo. Lewellen noted how this is somewhat of a continuation of the tradition of having an MC at the event. Lewellen stated that the first event had the previously mentioned Lorin Hunt as the MC. Hunt performed quite differently at the time though, standing in front of the crowd and asking the retirees various questions as they arrived. Lewellen noted one particular answer that stuck out, which was given by retiree Harry Barkham. Barkham had just retired about a year prior, and had stated that the best thing about retirement was Sunday night.

Lewellen also recalled a couple of special occasions that showed the importance of the event to many of these retirees. Since the event is the last day before winter break begins, there have been days where school has been canceled once the breakfast has already started. In these scenarios, Lewellen stated that it allowed the various teachers to just linger, with no sense of urgency to prepare for the school day.

“And we all knew what that meant,” said Lewellen. “Your Sunday nights were completely different when you didn’t have to face the week, and it’s probably true in many professions.”