Good evening! I am here tonight representing the Beavercreek Historical Society, and on behalf of our Board of Trustees and all of our members, some of whom are here, we thank you for this opportunity. The stated purpose of the Beavercreek Historical Society is "preserving the past for the future," and thus, tonight we hope to make that statement even more meaningful through the presentation of a very special gift to the Beavercreek Schools. It was a bit difficult to gift wrap, so we have it here for you in this manner.

We are so very pleased to be able to present you this evening a foundation stone from the first schoolhouse in Beavercreek, which was also the first in Greene County.

Let me briefly recount for you how it made its way to you in this room this evening.

Last September, at the official Dedication of Trebein Elementary and Jacob Coy Middle Schools, there were a number of people who attended who have lived in Beavercreek their entire lives, and others, like me, who came here as adults, but have adopted it as a much-beloved home. There was talk of history, and of that first schoolhouse in Beavercreek that was built around 1800 on Jacob Coy's land -- which was, of course, cited as the reason for giving our new middle school his name.

The history books of Greene County only state that "the first schoolhouse was erected in the southeast corner of Section 31 about two miles west of Alpha on the property of Jacob Coy." Other, more precise information about its location never appeared in print to the best of our knowledge, and for most people within our community, including the Beavercreek Historical Society, its exact location was lost to time.

During his presentation about his ancestor's contributions at that September Dedication Ceremony, however, Dr. Roger Coy made mention that when he was a young man, he and his father would hunt the fields of the Coy land, and his father would often point out to him the stones from the foundation of that old schoolhouse. Roger also further shared that later owners of the property, who are now deceased, were aware of the early history of the stones on their parcel, and had let him know they had rearranged the stones from their original foundation position into a different configuration on their property, and offered him one for his home.

Now those of us who love history have a touch of detective within us. We always want to know more about the past. My history buff antennae went up immediately upon hearing Roger's remarks, and curiosity prevailed! We followed up with Roger, made a few phone calls, and were thrilled to actually locate the remaining remnants of that foundation. One of our first thoughts upon seeing those stones was that one of them needed to go to the Beavercreek City School District.

The current owners of that private property have asked to remain anonymous. They wish no recognition, nor do they want the location identified. But we are truly appreciative that they have graciously consented to allow us to remove some of these stones from the property for public display. They are aware that this stone is being presented to Beavercreek Schools this evening, and that others will be used at Wartinger Park in a Historical Society project underway at that location. We sincerely thank them for making these historically significant limestone foundation stones available to the Beavercreek community.

So it seems fitting to again repeat the Beavercreek Historical Society's proud purpose -- preserving the past for the future -- as we make this presentation. We are certainly most pleased to officially present to Beavercreek City Schools this stone from the foundation of Beavercreek's first schoolhouse, erected on Jacob Coy's land.

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