As the Farmingdale School District was busy planning the many graduation ceremonies that took place this June, it also hosted a reunion of some of its older alumni-from the classes of 1939 through 1943, to be exact. It is fitting that these golden grads of Farmingdale Schools should get together this year, as the district celebrates its 190th Anniversary. None of the alum attended the original Hardscrabble District 16, but all of them carry precious memories of their time in the Farmingdale School District.

Adele Sengstacken, Class of 1943, came all the way from Hawaii (she moved there in 1979) for the reunion. She said that returning to the old neighborhood immediately made her "nostalgic. I got weepy," she said. What she noticed most was Farmingdale's population boom and subsequent development. "What was country is no longer country," the alum observed. The biggest-and best-change that she saw, however, was in the schools. "It's great to see the changes," said the '43 grad, "and the wonderful things that students have now."

Harriet Coan Verbeeck, Class of 1945, lives in Maryland now, but was born in Farmingdale and attended school here from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. "I still miss the old times," she admitted, yet overall she is excited. "There's such growth in Farmingdale," the alum enthuses. "It's fantastic!" Eric Corringham, Class of 1943, marveled at how different the district is from when he attended school here. "It's incredible," he said of the district's six schools, reminiscing about the single building in which he learned: "Kids came in at the kindergarten end, moved right through, and then graduated at the other end," he recalled.

Charles Bueltman, Class of 1944, has lived in Alabama for the past 35 years, so he was quite surprised when he returned to his old district. "It's all very dramatic," he said. "What I see looks so updated and modern. The schools are beautiful. There are all kinds of facilities," he observed. "It's magnificent."