Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Retired Western Attendance Area school personnel gathered for their annual first-day-of-school event at Island Park in Youngsville. Pictured are (front, from left); Linda Skelley, Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam, Ellie Dunn, Patty Hannold, Denise Pearson, and Celia Gross; and (back) Bill Grolemund, Sonna Sanden, Barb Derr, Janet Savko, Sue Kafferlin, Debbie Henry, and Pam Hummel. Missing from photo was Norma Bankoske.

Teachers and school personnel gathered at locations all over Warren County on Wednesday.

At least one group did so without any students around.

A group of retired elementary school personnel — teachers, cafeteria workers, and secretaries — got together at Island Park in Youngsville on the first day of the school year to reminisce.

They talked about what was new in their lives, they shared pictures of their grandchildren, and, of course, they talked about old times.

“This is what lunches were like when we were working,” Janet Savko said. “In the boiler room at Pittsfield Elementary.”

As they did at many of the shared stories, the group laughed at that.

“We miss each other,” Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam said. “It’s more like a family.”

Several worked at the Pittsfield school.

“I always thought I’d retire from Pittsfield,” Patty Hannold, wearing a bright red T-shirt bearing a picture of the school and the words — Pittsfield Elementary School — 1963-2002, said.

The closure of the school came as a surprise to the staff. “We never thought we’d get closed when we were out there,” Savko said.

Some of the retirees remember when there was a Brokenstraw Valley School District. The consolidation of several districts into one county-wide entity happened in 1966 after three years of preparations. None of the members admitted to working at that time, but Evelyn Ann Stufflebeam said all of the districts were told things would be better under one umbrella.

Consolidating Pittsfield Elementary into Youngsville Elementary had the impact of bringing more of the group closer together.

“I was probably the only one who was happy when it closed,” Denise Pearson said. “I worked at both. They were all my kids. I knew both faculties.”

They talked about how things were when they were working.

They especially enjoyed talking about their students.

“We just love it when they succeed,” Pearson said.

Hannold said she stopped by at Sheffield Middle High School on Tuesday to drop off a plant for a former student who is now a first-year teacher. The thank you message she received was the kind of reward that makes teaching worth it, she said.

They also talked about how things have changed — from technology to faculty lounges that aren’t in boiler rooms to discipline.

“We all had good careers,” Bill Grolemund said. “But everything is a little different today.”

Stufflebeam said the key to finding more teachers now and in the future isn’t throwing more money at them.

“That’s not the answer,” she said. “We need to get discipline back in the classroom. It was different.”

“It’s changing, but not always for the better,” Stufflebeam said. “It used to be more like a family.”

The group didn’t spend a lot of time on any kind of polarizing topics, preferring to spend time laughing.

The group is made up of western attendance retirees, not because they don’t want to spend time with other teachers. “We all have other circles,” Pearson said. “There are other groups that get together.”

“We don’t mean to be exclusive,” she said. “These are just the people we knew.”

Several members knew each other and were friends before working in the schools.

“We grew up together,” Savko said.

And, they get together when they can — but especially on the first day of school.

“We can’t all be here all the time,” Hannold said. “You want to catch up.”