Many in this group of graduates fanned out across the country to pursue a variety of careers.

The school building where they attended class and cheered on their favorite athletic teams is now gone -- consolidated into White River Valley Junior-Senior High School.

The students from Switz City Central, Worthington and L&M schools merged in 1991

However, the members of SCC Class of 1958 have remained loyal and close to the Greene County community where they had their roots and secured their education.

To further bond those ties with their "home school" the class members are forging a special tie this year with the 2008 graduating class at White River Valley.

Two members of the WRV Class of 2008 will each receive a $750 scholarship provided through donations by members of the Switz City Class of 1958 as a way to commemorate their 50th graduation anniversary.

The scholarships will be presented during the school's Honors Day program at 9 a.m. on Friday.

"The thinking was to commemorate our 50th anniversary we'd like to do something other than for ourselves so we thought the best way was to link up with the (WRV) class of '08 with scholarships," said Class of 1958 president Jerry McIntyre, who now lives in Terre Haute.

To solidify this bond from the past further, each member of the WRV Class of 2008 will receive a specially designed acrylic paper weight.

On one side of the paperweight is a color photograph of the old Switz City High School building as it appeared in 1958 overlapped with a color photo of the current school building.

On the back of the memento is the inscription: "Separated by 50 years, bound by tradition. Congratulations to the Class of '08 from the Class of 1958."

In addition, the Class of 1958 has purchased a bench that has already been erected in front of the school -- near the site where their old Switz City Central school once stood.

McIntrye, who is a retired administrator in the Vigo County School District, said originally the three ideas -- the scholarship, the bench and the memento -- was talked about by a committee. In the end they had planned on just doing the scholarships.

"Fortunately, we had enough response to our request for donations that we were able to do all three," McIntyre said.

Donations flowed in from graduates now living in Greene County and other Indiana towns. Grads living in Texas, Oregon, Virginia, Florida, Kentucky and California also contributed to the project, according to McIntyre, who served five years as principal of Terre Haute South High School (1980-85). He retired from the school district in 1998 as Director of Personnel.

The class of 1958 president, who joked he didn't know the job was a lifetime commitment when he took it back in his high school days, said school officials were given latitude in selecting the scholarship recipients.

"We asked the school to do it in the same manner as they select all scholarships. We just made the request that it go to someone that wouldn't be receiving other (scholarship) awards so hopefully it would have the best impact," McIntyre explained.

McIntryre explained that when the appeal letter went out to the surviving members of the class earlier this year, it was pointed out at the suggestion of class member Mary Gabbard of Bedford that the donation gift would "be given out of respect and gratitude for the dedicated teachers and staff that we had in the class of 1958."

In McIntryre's case, he said special thanks go to his old high school principal Curtis G. Wilson, who was his mentor and inspiration to pursue a career in education.

McIntrye, Gabbard, Betty and Stan Herold of Switz City, along with Janice Herndon of Linton, serve on the steering committee for the project.

McIntryre said his high school graduating class has remained close over the years and annually meets for a reunion each fall at McCormick's Creek State Park near Spencer.

"I've just really been grateful about how close our class has stayed together," McIntyre stated.

He's also not surprised that the class chose to do something for others to commemorate their 50th high school anniversary.

"It is typical of this class that they chose instead of spending the money and throwing a party for themselves, to do something for the school and the (WRV) graduates this year," the proud alumni concluded.

Herndon agreed by saying, "We wanted to do something nice."