The Orion Historical Society was awarded a grant of $9986 through the History Channel’s Save Our History Grant program to help the Society study and preserve the historic Howarth Schoolhouse, the last remaining one room schoolhouse in Orion Township. The grant portion of the schoolhouse project involves partnership with Upland Hills School, the Orion Township Library, and Orion Neighborhood Television (ON-TV). Originally, the project evolved due to the threat of demolition of the building by developers with expected sale of the land parcel, which is currently owned by the Howarth United Methodist Church. This situation has changed, and the schoolhouse and those working to restore it have earned a reprieve for at least a year, if not longer. The project, however, is in full swing to both research the building’s history and provide badly needed repairs/restoration on site in advance of any later move.

Upland Hills middle school students will be involved at several levels in the project during the 2006-2007 school year, ranging from archaeological investigation, contribution to a children’s history book for Orion elementary schools, conducting oral history interviews with area seniors who attended one room schools, working on the physical restoration of the building, and then putting it all together in a documentary DVD that will be shown to the public and also become part of the library’s permanent collection. Their teacher is Ted Strunck.

Other students are involved as well. Local Lake Orion High School teens working with Cathy Kimmel of ON-TV will be involved with additional filming and production of portions of the project. The ON-TV productions will be produced in serial fashion and will cover the archaeological investigation, and will air some additional oral history interviews. These productions will then also become part of the library’s permanent collection.

In addition, high school students in the Orion Township Library Teen Advisory Group will be responsible for the final production of the final local history book for children. The booklet is entitled “ A Little History Book About Lake Orion”, and will be edited by Teen Services Librarian, Deb Motley. Printed copies will be distributed mid-year to all of Lake Orion’s elementary schools for use by first and second graders and their teachers. Copies of the booklet will be available to the public at the Orion Township Library in January.

Other Partnerships Emerging

In addition to the grant-funded portions of the Howarth Schoolhouse Project, the Orion Historical Society is delighted to announce that other community partners are stepping up to help with the project effort. Orion Township Trustee Matt Gibb has initiated an effort to raise funds for the continuation of the project through a Math-a-thon program in the local elementary schools. He is working with Orion Historical Society Board member Patti Abate and Lake Orion’s Blanche Sims School principal Eric Whitney to coordinate this effort with several local elementary schools. The project is expected to take place in March, 2007.

Further support within Blanche Sims Elementary is also developing. Teachers Mrs. St. Louis and Mrs. Marshall have formed the Committee to Save the Howarth Schoolhouse, which seeks to help gather additional information about its students, their memories, and their memorabilia. Mrs. Schenburn, whose grandchild currently attends Blanche Sims, is also actively involved. The connection with the school is significant. Blanche Sims Elementary School is named for a local teacher from the late 19^th – early 20^th century who was an important educator in Lake Orion history. In an interesting twist, the Orion Historical Society learned just a year ago that Blanche Sims also taught one year at the Howarth Schoolhouse!

Another major donor to the Howarth Schoolhouse Project is Larry Mullins of Environmental Wood Solutions. He generously donated the use of equipment and personnel to help with the Phase II Archaeology Investigation that took place on November 14, 2006. This assistance was so helpful to our study of the building’s history and occupation, and will add tremendously to our knowledge of the history of the site. The Orion Historical Society plans to do additional study of the artifacts and create public educational exhibits with them in the future.

Because of the media exposure of our project, several people have come forward to share their historic artifacts and stories about the schoolhouse with us. These individuals have also added immensely to our understanding of the school and documentation of their memories and artifacts is underway.

The Orion Township Library (through Adult Reference Librarian Gene Williams) is about to launch its own expanded Oral History Project, which has some overlap with the Howarth Schoolhouse Oral History Project. We are therefore working together to gather this important—and disappearing—source of historical information. We hope to continue to work together to transcribe the histories in written format and add to the permanent collection of the library’s Orion Room of local history resources.

What to Watch For

Following the completion of the student DVD, a presentation of their work will be made to the public. Additional presentations of the archaeology of the site, its artifacts, and the development of exhibits are also expected. Eventually, it will need to be moved, and the Orion Township Board of Trustees has agreed to the concept of its relocation to Friendship Park. Until that time, repair and restoration of the exterior and interior is expected to be an ongoing project, perhaps for years to come. The Orion Historical Society hopes to open the schoolhouse to the public and local students from time to time as a part of experiencing our local history.