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Baker High School Info

Created on: 05/31/09 06:21 AM Views: 1003 Replies: 48
Baker High School Info
Posted Sunday, May 31, 2009 01:21 AM

About Baker High School

Baker High School was built in the shadow of Fort Benning, Georgia near the end of World War II and named for Newton Diehl Baker, Secretary of War during World War I. The first graduates received their diplomas in 1945. Baker High served Columbus and Fort Benning for nearly fifty years, producing graduates who excelled in scholarship, athletics, and the arts. There's a time for everything, and Baker's time was the post-war baby boom. Baker hung on for a while after the baby boom ended, but there weren't enough students to continue the synergy of the boom years. The last class of seniors graduated on June 6, 1991. It was barely a fourth the size of Baker's largest class. Now the buildings are empty. The Baker name lives on at Baker Middle School a few blocks east on Benning Drive, and Baker High lives on in the hearts and minds of those of us who loved our years there and still love the friends we made there. 

 

  

Baker High School Marble Memorial and Letters that were on the School

 

BHS Memorial:

As you all know the letters that once were on the front facade of Baker are now at Cooks Place. Unfortunately the marble monument IS NOT in storage at the school district warehouse. A couple of weeks ago I was told by someone, I don't remember who, that the monument was at the middle school laying on the ground by the circular driveway. I drove by the school and verified that this was true. A couple of days later I spoke with the gentleman that is over the plant service warehouse for MCSD and I inquired if there was anyway that the Baker Alumni Association could acquire the monument and he said yes, it could probably be worked out.I spoke with Roy Cook about putting the memorial on his property at Cooks Place. He came up with what I believe is a good idea. We are going to ask the Alumni Association for some money to build a brick or concrete slab and place it on the property at Roy's. Roy and I will be polling the members of the alumni Association in the next several days to get their feelings about it. Yesterday, 11/20, I spoke once again with the gentleman over the school district warehouse and he said that I would need to write a letter to his boss who is over all of plant services, requesting that the monument be turned over to the alumni association. I will probably write that letter over the weekend and hand deliver it to the school district on Monday or Tuesday. At this point in time it is not definite that we will get the monument but I have a pretty good feeling about it. I will keep everyone posted through this forum as to what is going on. Also as the holiday season approaches I hope that everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and a Very Merry Christmas. Please take care and be safe.
John Crimmel BHS 70 and Vice President of the Baker High School Alumni association.

Purchasing News

There are some "things" in the making here - as soon as we can - we'll "publish" them.  :) 

 

@Baker - The First "Virtual Baker High School"

(LIONS actively enjoyed www.baker.hs.org from 1995-2005 or so.... Still visit it and enjoy it even though it is an inactive site now)

(below is info posted on the @Baker site)

@Baker (pronounced at-Baker) is the Internet presence of the alumni of Baker High School, a "virtual high school," if you like. Read on to learn more about Baker High School, how we got on the Internet, and what this is all about.

 

 It all started with breakfast. If you're a member or friend of the Class of '65, you know that a key part of the reunions has been the Sunday morning breakfasts. Although some of us are a little bleary or moving a little slow, we relish the last chance to get reacquainted with our classmates. One of those breakfasts took place on the last Sunday in July, 1995, in Columbus. The hostess, also a Baker Lion, had set aside an area of the restaurant for us and we were sitting around chatting. Someone said, "Do you have an e-mail address?" Several of us did, and in the enthusiasm of the moment somebody (I don't remember who) decided Baker should be on the Internet. We were originally thinking of just an electronic mailing list, but Jeannie Penny Sewell wouldn't settle for anything less than a Web page. She even wrote about it in her newspaper article. Jeannie got her Web page, but we have electronic mailing lists, too!

One member of the class volunteered to look into an Internet domain name. It turned out that all the "Baker" names were taken, but "HS" wasn't, and the way Internet names work, it's easy to add a prefix, so we registered as HS.org. The .org means we're a non-profit organization. Boy is that ever true! Classmates scrounged around for equipment and computer programs, wrote the words you're reading now, scanned in pictures, and generally began putting together what you see today. By the first week in December, 1995, it became possible to surf the web at www.Baker.HS.org. One of us (BB) wanted to call this the "On Lions" but everyone else said, "EEeeeeyew! That's disgusting!" so we're playing this straight. Mostly. We finally settled on @Baker for the name of the project.

Well, that was the beginning of @Baker. We hope the end is far in the future.

Our vision for @Baker. When this was written (December, 1995) we had the names of most of the members of the Class of '65 on our world wide web server, and we had pictures of many of them. Our goal was to have all the '65 senior pictures scanned in. [UPDATE! By the end of January, we had the names of over half the Baker graduating classes, and by the end of June we had class rolls for 44 of the 47 graduating classes. Are Baker Lions good or what?!?]

That's not nearly enough! We want this to be much more than an electronic annual. We want it to be a living record of the lives of all of us who ever attended or taught at Baker. Toward that end, we have a mailing list, Lions-L, which we can use to exchange information. We're ready to start a mailing list for any class who can find a volunteer listmaster. We also want to get much more information on the web pages. We can't do this without help from everyone.

How you can help. We need e-mail addresses of anyone who ever attended Baker or taught there. If you know the e-mail address of any of our classmates, please send them a note and tell them about Baker on the Internet. If you know Baker Lions who aren't on the Internet, but might want to be, help them get signed up with your Internet provider or another one.

We need writing, we need pictures, and we need help from other classes. If you'd like to run a mailing list or Web page for your BHS class, let us know... we need your help.

We also want writing about you. Please take the time to use the "Sign-In" function on the Baker Home Page (or hotlinked from here!) to tell us how to get in touch with you, and include a paragraph or two about yourself and what you're doing. If you have an e-mail address, please give us permission to put a "mail" button on your Web page. If you have a Web page elsewhere, we can put a "link" button on your BHS Web page if you give us permission.

We especially want pictures of Baker people. We're trying to get a current picture of everyone who's signed in. You can upload these to your own @Baker web page yourself. If you have pictures of general interest, please contact the @Baker Webmaster.

Just what is Baker.HS.org, anyway? It's people; the people who had the ideas and took the time to make them work. What? Oh, you meant the computer! Well, we're on our fourth incarnation of computers. We started with a cast-off 486 PC and ran with it for six years. Then, in November, 2001, the Class of '65 donated a Dell PowerEdge 2450 server. It was a beauty, but after four more years, we were evicted from the data center that had provided a free home for our servers. We changed over to a paid hosting service in February, 2005. The database-driven Web site we use turned out to be too complicated for Assorted Internet, our first provider. We had frequent downtime and unexplained crashes. We moved to a new hosting provider in August, 2006.

Throughout, we've been using the Linux operating system, and the Apache World Wide Web server. Thanks to Linus Torvalds and countless volunteers for Linux, to the NCSA and the Apache Group for the Web server. Baker Lion volunteers perform testing, system administration, postmaster, webmaster, and listmaster functions. Someone from the Class of '65 talked his boss into housing the computer in a real data center and providing access to an Internet connection that served us for almost ten years. Internet domain name services are provided by OIIT, the information technology arm of the University System of Georgia. Name services are important because that's how your browser can find the Baker server. Thanks, OIIT folks! Costs of equipment, registration fees and services were raised by members of the Class of '65. Thanks, Class of '65! NVTech has provided some of the seasonal clipart that decorates our pages. Thanks, NVTech!

We'd also like to thank Dr. Philip ("you can't call me Dr. Greenspun") Greenspun, who gave one of us the idea that @Baker could be made much more interactive.

 
Edited 05/31/09 01:35 AM
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:55 AM

School board's land swap deal means old Baker High School will be demolished within 180 days

School board has given site to Housing Authority  - lgierer@ledger-enquirer.com

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They have their memories. They want some bricks.

When the old Baker High comes down sometime this year, some alumni are hoping to keep a concrete part of the building for posterity.

A land swap deal between the Muscogee County School Board and Columbus Housing Authority announced last week assures the demise of the 67-year-old structure on Benning Drive.

The school, named for U.S. Secretary of State Newton D. Baker, was established in 1943 and the first diploma was given out in 1945. The last diploma was given in 1991. It was then used as a middle school until 1999.

Roy Cook, class of 1968, has a room dedicated to Baker in his Columbus hot dog restaurant. He, too, fancies the idea of getting bricks.

“Baker was people and their spirit, not just brick and mortar,” Cook said. “I wish something could have been done with the building, but it was too far gone.”

At its last meeting, the school board unanimously approved the land exchange in which the Baker property was swapped for 15 acres adjacent to the school site.

The school had been declared surplus property in 2001. The Georgia Department of Education recently concluded the building was no longer suitable for a school. It was then decided action needed to be taken.

“The school board approached us about six or seven months ago about making some kind of deal,” said Len Williams, the executive director of the housing authority.

According to the agreement, all buildings and fixtures on the site need to be gone within 180 days. Bids will be accepted for the job.

“I think it’s a win-win situation,” Williams said.

He said the school district will get the land on which to build a new elementary school. Though he doesn’t know how the Baker land will be used, he said it will be something compatible with the neighborhood and that the people who live in nearby Arbor Pointe won’t have to be concerned about an undesirable business going there.

Arbor Pointe is the housing development that replaced the 590-unit Baker Village built in 1941. Eighty percent of the 148 dwellings built in Phase 1 are occupied. Another 148 are going up in Phase 2.

Williams believes the Baker land to be a couple of acres less than what the school district is receiving. Both parcels of land are being appraised for value.

Dr. Philip T. Schley, the chairman of the school board, said the swap should make a “definite difference for the area.”

Schley said that attempts were made during the last few years to preserve at least part of the building, but the financing fell through for those interested in purchasing Baker, including one company wanting to construct multi-unit housing.

There had been talk of converting the building into a fine arts academy or a vocational school.

“When the state said it could never be used again as a school, we decided it was time to do something,” Schley said. “It’s a nice exchange."

 
Edited 01/26/10 11:56 AM
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 01:24 PM

The building may be gone but the memories will never die!  The school board or city could have kept up  the school for years but decided "we" were undesirable, well to them I say they never went to school there!!  Baker is a family, we may disagree with each other but NO ONE ELSE BETTER!  The middle school should be named after Charles Goodrum, the "mayor of south columbus"

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 01:28 PM

It saddens me greatly to read this. I would love to have brick from the school if there is any way possible. Hard to believe that our 35th Class Reunion will have been the last ever held in front of Baker High School. The building may be gone but our love for the school will live on forever in our hearts.

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 01:43 PM

I am also very sad to hear the news.  I wish it could be arranged to have the school opened for us to tour one last time before it is destroyed. 

Bonna Sneed

Class of 77

 
School to be demolished
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 03:46 PM

If they are going to tear down the school soon, we should have at least one ghost hunt in the building.

It occurs to me they will tear down the school Newt Gingrich went to.  What other celebs went to Baker...other than myself and Bill Salmon.

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 03:59 PM

It will be said to see the school go down, but never in our hearts and souls.  We had good times there and met friends we will keep for a life time.

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 04:00 PM

I am So Sad! I never really would have thought I would really care THIS much!! My dad retired in Columbus from Virginia, and like a lot of us Army teens...this is where I found some stable, long lasting, even after all these years later, friendships. This feels like a  home that is being torn down instead of a school building. :(

I know my seasons. Smile

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 05:51 PM

Wouldn't it be great if we could acquire the bricks, sell them and use the money for scholarships or donate to Freedom flights!

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 06:01 PM

THE CITY, SCHOOL BOARD ARE A JOKE. THEY WAITED WHAT 10-15 YEARS TO MAKE A DECISON TO HAVE SAVED THE SCHOOL, BOTTOM LINE THEY WANTED BAKER TO GO DOWN.

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 06:48 PM
trish_and_leo.jpg

I am truly saddened by the loss of our beautiful Baker! To think we just had our last Reuion there, I am so glad we were able to do that, they may be tearing our school down but they can never erase our Memories!!! I hope we can all have a brick to keep!

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 07:21 PM

I think it is a disgrace how the school board has handled this whole thing. I mean they are not even thinking about all of us that went to Baker High School. I had a lot good memories at Baker and I know everyone else that went to Baker. Baker was more than just a building; it was history and should have been saved. I think it is great idea some had about letting us; The Baker High Alumni, take a tour of the building one more time. What would it hurt. Are they afraid that some of us would start some trouble? Maybe we should raise a big stink about it. It just isn't right and they don't care at all.

Greg Duke

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 07:28 PM

Great idea about the bricks if they were sold so everyone could afford one or two. I for one would like to have one. But who ever brings it down will more than likely keep the bricks or destroy them.

Greg Duke

 
Plans are Being Developed about the Bricks!
Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 08:18 PM

Hey Lions!

Plans are in the works about distributing/selling the bricks.... Will get the info to you as soon as it's available!!!

Also, here is a Columbus Ledger-Enquirer link (thanks Lynn Wyatt '72) about the BHS building news and you can also see (and sign in and provide comments of your own...) comments folks have been making today - good :) and not so good :(..... 

 

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/story/989112.html

Tez

 
Edited 01/26/10 08:19 PM
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:56 AM

Roy summed it up when he said “Baker was people and their spirit, not just brick and mortar."  Baker will survive as long as there are living alumni that feel the LION spirit.  It will be sad to drive by and not see the brick and mortar.  Even so, the school AND the memories will always be there in our mind's eye.

Gary '65'

Gary Bender, '65'

 
LION Gala (a.k.a. Blue Jean Party)!
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 04:27 PM

Hello All Lions!

WOW! We've had a lot of "food for thought" have we not? :> Many Lions have exclaimed, "We want one last "walk-through" of our Baker High School building!"

For real - I wish our school building was in a condition for all of us to walk the halls for a "proper" good-bye but, please believe me, it is not! My take on this is everyone is much better off keeping the great memories you have and not unsettling them with the current terrible inside views. Myself and several others have dodged, crawled, and very cautiously tip-toed through the blackness with flash lights over the last few years AND it is NOT something ANY LION wants or needs to see. I am very serious plus it is extremely dangerous. Apologies for being a bearer of more sad news but the inside of the building is awful and not safely walkable.

Oh, wait a minute! There is one area that is still in relatively good condition. Close your eyes for a minute....Don't peep just yet..... See if you can guess what area it is.....

****************************************************

Yep, the Auditorium! It came back from ashes! And it still looks purty good. Take a look:

 

What I'd like to see HAPPEN! is for us to have a LION GALA (aka Fling, blue jean Party, etc....) in the Baker High School Auditorium! Why not?! Who knows who or what is "in control" of all this but be cool to get a huge NOTION of what we want then take it up with the " " (whoevers).... Seems be cool to have an outdoor gathering (picnic, etc.) and be able to have capability to have an evening Gala Event(s) in the auditorium! Am I dreaming, maybe.....but dreams do sometimes come true!!!! :> Tez/Terry

 
Edited 01/27/10 08:26 PM
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 07:38 PM

Terry....how long ago were these pictures taken?

Pat

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 08:25 PM

Hey Pat,

These pictures were taken in October 2008.  As far as I know, based on what I've heard from others who have visited after this time, the auditorium still has this same look. ;> Terry

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 08:59 PM

WOW!!  I can almost see the Dandylions and Lionbackers doing their routines down in front of the stage while the band plays!!

Wouldn't it be great if some of the band members and Dandylions/Lionbackers could re-create some of those special/precious moments??!!

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 09:42 PM

Terry...I can't get on the Jan. chat....is it me or is there a problem?

Pat

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 09:54 PM

Terry,

I am having the same issue that Pat is having. I cannot get in the Jan forum. I have tried many timees, I thought it was Just me.

Jeanne

LOVE AND MISS ALL THE "LION FAMILY"
JEANNE

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:11 PM

 


 

I'm so glad it's not just me, I can't get on either!

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:13 PM

We'd love to!!!  Of course maybe our skirts don't need to be as short as they were at our age!   Let's get Debbie White and Diane Biglane on board with this.


Former Lionbacker,

Charlotte 70

 

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:14 PM

Terry, a Gala event sounds great!  The old gal deserves a little glam (the school not me), ha ha.


 

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Thursday, January 28, 2010 08:33 AM

That would be great to do that Terry! and that would be fun for the Dandylions and Cheerleaders to get something together...talk about a flashback! Do you know what dates they might let us get in do that? ....hopefully!!!! :D

I know my seasons. Smile

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 07:43 AM

Charlotte,

I don't see a problem with keeping the skirts short. :)

Sid

Sid Welch

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 07:52 AM

Sid, I should have expected that!


 

 

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 08:01 AM

Ms. Charlotte,

I do believe that I am speaking for all of my Baker male friends.

Thank you,

Sid

Sid Welch

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 08:05 AM

Sid, on behalf of all of the Bakerettes over 50, we thank you! 


 

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 09:12 AM

Charlotte,

This is a true story and not a patronizing story. I sent some of the Roar pictures to a female friend of ours. She is 62 years old and went to high school in another city in Georgia. After I sent the pictures she sent me back an email that said "darn Sid, didn't you have any unattractive girls at Baker"? I said no, we sent them to the other high schools in Columbus.

Just telling the truth.

Truth Man Sid

Sid Welch

 
RE: School to be demolished
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 09:18 AM

Ray,

I haven't heard Bill Salmon's name in a while. Where is Bill these days? Was it Bill who drove a jeep on the Commanding Generals yard at Ft. Benning in order to do a couple of doughnuts?

Vicki Morales, aka Victoria Mallory comes to mind in regards to celebrities.

Sid

 


Rayford Lee Henderson wrote:

If they are going to tear down the school soon, we should have at least one ghost hunt in the building.

It occurs to me they will tear down the school Newt Gingrich went to.  What other celebs went to Baker...other than myself and Bill Salmon.

Sid Welch

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 09:39 AM

How sweet of you Sid!  We also had some good looking boys at Baker!

 

 

 

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 11:37 AM

CHARLOTTE.....besides me and SID, who were the good looking boys????........lol

Rodney Wolfinger '69

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 11:45 AM

There were plenty, but of course the two of you top the list!

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 11:54 AM

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh thank you darlin.....i just rewrote my will and i made sure i spelled C H A R L O T T E correctly...hehehehe

Rodney Wolfinger '69

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 12:06 PM

 Your Will?  See, I know what I'm doing, now if I can just get all of Sid's money too I'll be sitting pretty in my old age!  hee hee

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 12:15 PM

CW,

I told you that when my Baker friends see me coming they say what a "peasant" surprise, so what does that tell you. Ha!

Rodney: I suppose we should send Charlotte that cash we promised her for saying nice things about us.

Sid

 


Charlotte Scarborough Wakefield wrote:

 Your Will?  See, I know what I'm doing, now if I can just get all of Sid's money too I'll be sitting pretty in my old age!  hee hee

Sid Welch

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 12:22 PM

Yes you should pay up!

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 12:43 PM

"Charly" Scarborough,  [As Major Blumhagen called you]

Rodney and I will have to sell some Baker bricks before we can send the cash.

Sid

 

 

Sid Welch

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 12:53 PM

hey CHARLOTTE...wiffout goin into all the legal terms, basically what i left you is all my worldly possessions...to include, a haff pack of cigarettes, a slightly used bottle of Johnny Walker Red, $73.14, a pair of tore up penny loafers, 6 pair of jeans and and assortment of HI-WAR-YUN floweryed shirts.....

Rodney Wolfinger '69

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 01:54 PM

I'll smoke your cigarettes and drink the liquor and spend your money - the rest I'll just treasure!  It's been fun talking to you Rodney.

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 01:55 PM

Sid man, you're gonna need lots of bricks!

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 02:00 PM

That is an amazing story. If there is ever anything I can do; let me know. Greg Duke class of '72

Greg Duke

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 02:51 PM

GREG....all you need to do friend is when we nail down the actual date and all just SHOW UP!!!

Rodney Wolfinger '69

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 03:13 PM

Don't worry about it, the "Rod Man" and I will come up with the bricks. :)

 


Charlotte Scarborough Wakefield wrote:

Sid man, you're gonna need lots of bricks!

Sid Welch

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Friday, January 29, 2010 03:14 PM

Sounds good Sid!

Charlotte Scarborough

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Sunday, February 7, 2010 05:22 PM

Like most of you, I would love to have a brick. Surely some of us can persuade the school board or whoever, that the alumni, at least, deserve that much. I want to thank Rick P. I have my Baker picture hanging in my office, across from my desk. All I have to do is look up, and I am at Baker. I thought I wanted to go through the school but, after many conversations w/John C., I have decided my memories are better than reality. The school board, in my opinion, should be slapped around :o) for waiting all these years and letting our beloved school sit there and rot. Please keep me posted and whatever needs to be done, count me in. Hey guys, you can, also, count me in, when you go to writing your wills

 
Edited 02/07/10 05:23 PM
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Sunday, February 7, 2010 11:32 PM

It's tough to just drive through the old neighborhoods - I can't imagine walking through the abandoned building we all loved for so many years.  I would prefer to have my memories not diminished by time.  As Kenny Tatum reminded me - I can still see it clearly in my mind's eye - Thank you Kenny!!  What a perfect perspective!!

Pam '70

 
RE: Baker High School Info
Posted Monday, February 8, 2010 11:32 AM

I'll do my best: I'm living Montana now so it won't be til spring before I could come.

Greg Duke