Alumni salute

It’s a project that’s been in the making for 53 years — 53 Ozaukee High School graduating classes to be exact.

The Ozaukee High School Alumni Hallway on the south side of the school gymnasium is complete or, more precisely, up to date, as future graduating classes will be enshrined there for years to come.

The project began more than a year ago with collecting and restoring graduation photos from every OHS yearbook since the school was founded in 1967.

“It was a long process,” Northern Ozaukee Schools Supt. Dave Karrels said. “We were taking some from the yearbooks, some from old frames, wherever we could find them. It was quite a mix.

“The fact we have all the pictures is an accomplishment.”

Each photo had to be scanned, corrected and mounted so they would be consistent with each other and then mounted on aluminum sheets and sheathed in plastic.

OHS art teacher Nathan Kilps was responsible for much of the initial scanning, and Don West, co-owner of Wild West Studios in Cascade, was in charge of correcting and restoring the photos.

West, whose children attended OHS, does work with logos for professional sports organizations, including the Green Bay Packers and several NBA teams, and has produced items for OHS sports teams.

NOSD Facilities Director Kent Schueller oversaw the installation of the plaques, including a blue panel on which the plaques are mounted and that runs the length of the hallway.

The panel was painted and pinstriped by local painter Rick Hughes.

“Rick put a nice clear coat over it to avoid scuffing and scratching,” Schueller said. “He did a nice job.”

“Rick put in a ton of time. Don did, too,” Karrels said.

Officials are looking for historic photos of the school district to decorate the wall across from the graduating class plaques.

Karrels said plans call for hanging a sign at the entrance of the area, designating it as the Hallway of History and Alumni.

In addition, the hallway on the north side of the gym has tentatively been dubbed the Hall of Fame, where trophies and other memorabilia could be displayed.

“Same idea, to get some consistency there,” Karrels said.

There’s no schedule on when the Hall of Fame project might be completed.