Back from an one of the extensive tours of the school given by National Honor Society student-guides, I have to admit that the place they call "the dungeon" in the basement really seems like one. It is long and narrow with tall sides and although there is plenty of light, it seems dark and dank. It is used by the wrestling team for practices.
But for 10 to 15 years, it was the only "gym" the school had, our guide, Stephanie Hobbins, a senior, told our group of seven. Then Memorial Gym was built.
As dank and closed in as the "dungeon" was, the former rifle range was bright and almost uplifting. The facility on the first floor had a fairly recent facelift, Stephanie told us. The metal sheeting protecting the far wall that was mangled and almost shot away was gone and the whole range was painted a bright grayish-white. One would never know it was once a rifle range, except for the bullet hole in the glass block of a window.
We were told the range was for the school's former rifle club that used .22 caliber rifles to target-shoot. But somebody had to be using higher-caliber ammunition to rip the metal shield away, Stephanie said.
Although Stephanie said use of the range was discontinued in the 1980s, two Whitefish Bay High School grads, a generation apart and both decades before the 1980s, said they never knew the range was even there.
Another tour highlight was going up into the bell tower. It was a long trek over steep steps in a dimly lit, though wide stairway. Finally, we were inside the tower, looking out tall windows onto the school's flat roof and the athletic fields and homes beyond. We were not at the very top, however. There was another section of tower above us with another bank of handsome, tall window openings. But the bell that rang in the bell tower that most of us had seen on display in the field house probably hung in this room, Stephanie told us.
The tower room was bright but of a grayish rough finish. The room was maybe 24 feet on each side. Signatures of students and former students surrounded us. Anyone who contributed to the school yearbook by writing something or taking a photograph is welcome to write their name on the tower room wall. And many of them have.
We gazed back through the years at signatures from the 1970s, then one from 1967, and finally one from way back in 1953. There may have been older ones, but we didn't find them.
Back on a lower floor science room, we passed by a real human skeleton, not a plastic fake as most schools have. The woman's skeleton was donated when the school opened and is used today as it was in those early classes, Stephanie told us. Take biology, for example, and you will learn from the skeleton.
As we passed it by, we were on our way to the rooftop greenhouse. Long and narrow, with only one aisle and counters on either side, the greenhouse is no longer used for classes. It is glass on three sides and on the entire roof.
It's getting late and I'm going to head out now. The barbecue dinner should be starting in an hour and you can sample the custard flavor the Kopps Custard designed just for the anniversary. Also, a live artist will be at work at the art show.
The evening will continue with musical entertainment and a video made just for the anniversary by student Mike Cheslik. I am told he is a remarkably talented film-maker. Topping off the celebration will be the 8 p.m. closing performance of the student production of "The Odd Couple."
