At Thanksgiving time in 1972, teachers Donna Williams (far left) and Darlene Reed (right) at St. Joseph School in Canton gave practical turkey stuffing tips to their first-grade students. Afterward, the children invited the school principal and parish priests to dinner, with the priests undertaking the honors of carving. The school educated thousands of children in more than 100 years of service (1903-2014).
The parish was organized in 1902, with its first Mass celebrated in a rented hall but, within a year, a combination church and school building was completed. By 1951, after many more expansion projects, the diocesan book The March of the Eucharist described the parish buildings, including the school, as “among the finest in the entire Diocese.”
From the looks of this scene recorded by the Catholic Exponent, the school was the place for creative and memorable hands-on experiences 50 years ago!
