The Clay Center High School Alumni Association

The Clay Center High School Alumni Association holds its annual alumni banquet on the Saturday before Memorial Day. A number of unsuccessful attempts were made, prior to 1932, to form an active association, but since then graduates have gathered every year to enjoy the company of friends and share cherished memories of days gone by. In an effort to attract larger numbers of graduates to the banquet, the association has recently started honoring classes every five years. Weekend events also include various individual class reunions, the CCHS Alumni Golf Outing, and Memorial Day Services, which are held at the cemetery on Monday morning.  The Memorial Day Services at the cemetery involve the American Legion Post 87, American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion, Clay Center Boy Scout Troops, and Boy’s and Girl’s State Representatives.

The first two graduates from CCHS were Ruth and Jesse Jessup, who received their diplomas in 1896. According to the association's records, 2,153 have graduated from CCHS.

The association's executive board consists of four officers, President, Vice President/Secretary, Treasurer and Permanent Corresponding Secretary. The officers, with the exception of the Permanent Corresponding Secretary are elected through a nominating and balloting process. The association votes to retain the Treasurer every three years. Voting takes place the night of the banquet.

Beginning in 1995 and continuing in 1996 donations were accepted and used to send banquet invitations, by first class mail, to every living graduate in the hope of finding as many lost members as possible before publishing the first-ever CCHS Alumni Association Directory. Before 1995 invitations were only sent to members outside of Nebraska every ten years.  To date we continue to raise enough money in dues to send banquet invitations to every member by first class mail.  With the advent of the cell phone it has become difficult to track members and, unfortunately, the association has many members who are still listed as address unknown.

In 1996, the first CCHS Alumni Association Scholarship was proudly presented to a member of the 100th class to graduate from Clay Center High School. Nearly $12,000.00 in scholarship money has been awarded since then. Thirty-one graduates from CCHS have benefited from these scholarships. A new scholarship entitled the Royce and Marie Deines Memorial Scholarship was first awarded in 2004 to a high school senior.

In the spring of 2006 the Deines scholarship became available to college graduates. New criteria was established in 2009 and the association began awarding the scholarship to an alumni member enrolled as a full-time status, post-secondary student who had completed his/her first year carrying at least a 3.0 GPA.  This wonderful legacy from Royce and Marie will assist a number of CCHS graduates for generations to come.

In 1999, the Wish List Project kicked off with the donation of six state-championship banners to the school.  The banners honor teams from the 1980s and 1990s. This popular project has since donated toward the purchase of a studio piano for the music department, a concession stand popcorn popper, banquet tables, serving trays and three gymnasium floor protectors, a Quiz Bowl Tournament System, which is used by the Elementary, Jr. High and High School Quiz Bowl teams, a UHF multi-frequency wireless microphone for the school’s sound system, new carpet for the student lounge, and 15 banquet tables. The association's largest project, to date, has been the purchase of an eye-level graduation picture display rack, which stores and protects 80 years of senior class pictures. Association members donated hundreds of hours to organize the display, and members Lois Williamson Swanson, C. Dale Thomas, Max Northrop and Doris Alberding Mihm came in to identify three decades of graduates, whose names had never been recorded under their pictures. Former teacher Lois Friesen Northrop also assisted and Wilma Nowka provided a class picture. The Clay Center Booster Club maintains a plaque in the high school north entryway, which honors all $100.00 donors to the Wish List with a gold bar.  To date, the plaque is nearly full. The 2006, 2007 and 2008 donations were used to   further a track facility project at the field and support the yearbook/journalism department. 2009 and 2010 donations went toward the funding of the final CCHS yearbook.  More than $17,000.00 has been donated to the school through the Wish List Project.

Eight years ago the association took on a project that proved to be very worthwhile and lots of fun.  Every fall we sponsored concession stands for the Jr. High and Jr. Varsity athletic programs.  Local members donated toward the purchase of inventory as well as ran the stands.  Members served up hot dogs, sloppy joes, nachos, pop, and candy…and they did it with a smile.  With the ever-changing Nebraska weather you never knew if you would be serving hot chocolate or cold pop and there was no way to predict just how much inventory you would need.  But, that was part of the fun and it got the word out that our association was there for the school in every way.  Proceeds from the concession stands were used to fund the Wish List Project if all general fund expenses had been met.

The CCHS Alumni Association grows stronger with each passing year.  The younger generation has come to know the association as a group of giving and caring friends who are still an important part of the school experience.  With the Scholarship and Wish List programs we have been able to show our support, whether we are right here at home, or far away. We have always recognized that the association could not make a huge difference in the financial outcome of our school, but our efforts have always been applauded and have been greatly appreciated.  Many graduates are now working to preserve as much of the CCHS Wildcat history as possible in the hope that future generations will be able to experience the Wildcat tradition just as we did.