Pavers to memorialize Bath alumni, friends

Published 8:03 pm Monday, February 23, 2015

BATH — A walkway from Harding Street to the gallery entrance of Old Bath High School soon will be paved with names.

Bath High School Preservation, the nonprofit organization that has turned a Bath landmark around from a deteriorating building to a community center, is wrapping up a brick-paver project to raise funds for continued restoration.

“For quite some time, people have been asking about a means of honoring and memorializing alumni, teachers and friends of Bath High School. We had been considering the idea of a memorial walkway containing engraved bricks. Now that we have accomplished the tremendously important task of completing payment for the building to the Town of Bath, it seems the appropriate time to proceed with the brick project,” BHSP board member Claudia Alligood explained.

For Alligood, the opportunity to memorialize friends and loved ones is a natural fit for a building that played such a large part of so many lives.

“It would be wonderful to have a walkway showcasing the names of as many alumni and friends of BHS as possible,” Alligood said. “After all, it was the people who made the school what it was.”

Bricks run in two sizes: 4 by 8 inches, at a cost of $75, and 8 by 8 inches, for $150. The smaller bricks allow for three lines of text with 18 characters per line; larger bricks can accommodate up to six, 18-character lines. The deadline for the project’s first order of bricks coincides with BHSP’s annual oyster roast Saturday.

The oyster roast is a major fundraiser for the organization. Held at Jerol Selby’s farm shop just east of Bath, ticketholders are treated to all you can steamed oysters, hot dogs, bean soup and seafood gumbo. Tickets are $30 per person and can be purchased from any BHSP board member, at Nameplates in Washington, True Value Hardware at White Post, and in Bath at Bayview Golf Club, The Quarterdeck, the Washington-Beaufort County Board of Realtors’ office and the Bath Library.

For more information about the brick pavers visit www.bhspreservation.org/bricks or call 252-923-5061.