By Maggie Downs
Enquirer staff writer

Gary Paul, a 43-year-old Madeira resident, finds it impossible to forget his years at Sellman School.

After all, 30 years later, his initials are still etched in the sidewalk in front of the building.

Paul, along with former classmate and friend John Castrucci, peered out the window of what used to be the media center to check out Paul's handiwork.

Bonnie McCreary, of Madeira, class of 1948, points out yearbook photographs of her old classmates to her daughter, Debbie Stapleton, of Newtown. (Enquirer photo/SARAH CONARD)

"There are a lot of good memories here," said Castrucci, 40, who chimed in as Paul imitated old teachers or mentioned the cafeteria's foot-long hoagies.

On Sunday, the community got one last glimpse of the old building.

Demolition for the Miami Avenue site is slated to begin Oct. 25.

Eventually a middle school will be built in its place, scheduled for completion by August 2006.

In the meantime, the 325 students will use Milford's Main Middle School in Clermont County.

Sellman School, named for former Madeira educator W. Marshall Sellman, was built in 1937 and served as the high school until 1958.

It has been a middle school ever since.

It's also where Superintendent Stephen Kramer began his teaching career 23 years ago.

"And the place was old then!" he said.

Saturday night, about 150 former students, mostly from the graduating classes of the 1950s, attended the Last Chance Dance and took a spin through the old school gym one final time.

On Sunday, alumni turned out in droves for a plant sale to benefit the Parent Teacher Association and to bid adieu to the old, empty classrooms.

"I'm kind of sad, but I guess it'll be nice for the kids coming up," said 73-year-old Bonnie McCreary of Madeira, class of 1948.

David Harwood of Evendale, 58, fondly remembers the eighth-grade football and basketball champs at the school.

"In some ways it's eerie being here," he said, looking around the auditorium. "Some things haven't changed a bit.

"It brings back a lot of nostalgia."

Criticism came, however, from people who don't like the increased taxes that go hand-in-hand with a new building.

Madeira voters this year approved a $28 million bond issue that allows for construction of both a Sellman and Dumont Primary School.

"I don't want to have to pay for all the new schools," Paul said.

"I still think there's something they could have done with the building."

---

E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com