South Bend's Clay High School to host giveaways for student memorabilia

SOUTH BEND — Al Hartman started coaching wrestling at Clay High School when he was just 20 years old, only a couple of years removed from his own all-state wrestling career at Penn High School.

He went on to coach roughly 60 seasons of three different sports at Clay, he said. He served as the head wrestling coach, the football team's offensive coordinator and the golf coach.

Now Clay's athletic director, Hartman is in his 36th and final year as a Colonial. His job over the last few months has led him to revisit much of that history. Founded in the 1930s, Clay is closing after the South Bend Community School Corp. voted to shutter one of its four high schools after years of declining enrollment in the district.

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After sorting through hundreds of personal photos, plaques and banners, Clay High School will host giveaways over the month of May and the first week of June for alumni who wish to collect personal memorabilia.

“It’s been like a high school reunion, in a sense,” Hartman said. “I taught for 26 years before I became athletic director. So I taught a lot of those kids.”

When can people collect personal items?

Former Clay students and athletes can come to the high school, at 19131 Darden Road, from 4-6 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday from May 14-30 to retrieve personal items. If those times don't work, alumni can arrange for pickups from June 3-7 from 9-5 p.m.

On those six days in May and the first week of June, former athletes can take home memorabilia that marks their names or personal accomplishments. Team awards, Hartman said, will be donated to a local museum to preserve a record of Clay's athletic history.

The high school will also give away valedictorian photos and plaques during these times. Hartman said there a number of awards for dance, drama and music that interested alumni can arrange to pick up.

All of the memorabilia have been scanned and archived to be shared on a Clay High School alumni page, Hartman said.

“This is Year 36 for me here, OK, so I have a lot invested in what happens to all this stuff, you know,” Hartman said. “Obviously No. 1 was getting it back to the kids. But also along with that would be making sure we still have a history of Clay athletics."

For more information or to arrange a pickup, contact the Clay High School Athletics Department at 574-393-4923.

Email Tribune staff writer Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Clay High School hosts giveaway for athletic memorabilia