Just as generations before have given back to the Albert Lea School District on their 50th reunion, so is the class of 1958 — and they’re pulling out all the stops.

Through donations solely from class members, the class of ’58 is donating a sign announcing the high school to drivers along Y.H. Hanson Avenue, donating any extra funds to an endowment for students and creating a book of class memories and accomplishments written by the classmates themselves.

The sign keeps with the aesthetic of the high school building and uses simple lettering to write “Albert Lea High School.” The project includes lighting on both sides of the sign along with landscaping. The brick sign sits between the two driveways leading to the parking lot off Y.H. Hanson Avenue.

The total cost of the sign project is roughly $18,000. It is within weeks of completion — the landscaping and lighting are still in progress.

The sign will be complete with a plaque including the inscription, “May what you discover and learn here inspire, guide and challenge your life.” The inscription came from a classroom taught by one of the classmates.

The class reunion committee voted to give a gift back to the high school and chose from a list of projects the district put together of things that would be nice to have but the district couldn’t afford.

Any funds left over after the sign project will go to the Tiger Alumni Student Assistance Endowment Fund of the Education Foundation of Albert Lea. The endowment helps students pay for extracurricular activities.

The 1958 classmates decided in addition to doing something physical, they wanted to do something that would help the students at the school now, to “make it a two-pronged project if we could afford it,” said Class Treasurer Angie Warrington Nelson.

All donations go directly to the Education Foundation, which manages the money, pays all construction bills and will put the leftovers in the endowment.

“The fundraising part of it has been extraordinary,” said Reunion Chairwoman Judy Myers Kinsey.

When the group started organizing and requesting donations it didn’t know what to expect, she said. Previous classes have had people able to donate large chunks of money, and organizers didn’t know if the class of 1958 had that.

But from an initial mailing, the class has raised more than $23,000 from 88 donations. Twenty-four people in the class gave $500 to $1,000, according to Kinsey.

“This was not a hard sell,” she said.

– Sept. 12 through Sept. 14

– Events open to the public are the 50 Years of Show and Tell at 8 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Ramada Inn and the sign dedication at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 13 at the high school.

The class of 1958 graduated with 300 students and keep in touch with 285 classmates, friends and spouses through ongoing e-mails. Sixty-two classmates have passed on, but many classmates that transferred before graduation or that were in other graduation years have been included in the project.

“Anyone that thinks they’re part of the class of ’58 is,” Kinsey said.

The third part of the project — outside of the sign and endowment — is the memory book.

“The book is beautiful,” said Joan Palmer Carlson, chairwoman of the memory book.

The book is 178 pages of classmate-submitted stories, information and photos. Carlson asked classmates to submit a recent photo and story from any part of their lives. One page is dedicated to each classmate — and Carlson even included classmates’ graduation photos. More than 150 classmates responded.

“We just run the gamut in what came through,” she said. “And what’s interesting is their personalities (from high school) are still there.”

She said the book is “very entertaining, very reminiscent. It’s very memorable to read it.”

There is a section in the book dedicated to classmates that have passed on. There are pictures of everyone who didn’t respond.

Every classmate that registers for the 50th reunion in September will pay a $15 registration fee to ensure a copy of the memory book is reserved. If a classmate signs up for the book during the reunion, it will cost $17. The Freeborn County Historical Society will also receive a copy.

“We have a legacy to the school, and we have a legacy to the community but the book is our legacy to each other,” Carlson said.

Carlson worked in publishing and lent her expertise to the project. A fellow classmate is a retired commercial artist and did a few drawings for the projects. Former city engineer David R. Olson, chair of the legacy projects, used his contacts to find donations and work for the projects.

“We’ve been lucky that we’ve got retired people who are able to work in their area of expertise,” Kinsey said.

“You couldn’t have done this if you weren’t retired,” Olson added.

Another classmate and former artist, Pete Hoffman, is organizing 50 years of show and tell where classmates can submit anything they want to share with the class. Hoffman will take all submissions and turn them into a slide show to be shared at the reunion. If 1958 classmates want to submit anything they can call Hoffman at (919) 471-6504.

The class of 1958 was not only able to use their career skills, but many classmates learned new ones in the process in order to benefit the reunion.

Members of the reunion committee said they are very thankful to donors, community members and the school district for helping and allowing them to do everything that was accomplished.