S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 • M a r i e m o n t, O h i o • Vo l u m e X L I I , N o .
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Back to School a Time-Tested Event
By Margaret Jevic
On Tuesday, August 22, 2017, Mariemont went back to school. This is the official signal for my sweet puppy to sit at the front door every morning around eight o’clock watching all the kids walk by on their way to school. Back to School in Mariemont brings a new round of learning for kids, new friends, new teachers, and a host of new experiences, but there’s also an air of familiarity with it all. Parents walk herds of children along sidewalks, backpacks and coffee in tow. There’s a considerable traffic backup as throngs of people, strollers, and dogs make their way across the street to the Mariemont Elementary School.
This year was particularly special for the Evans family. Their daughter, Carrie Branon, moved in next door with her husband and their three children, two of whom are of age to attend Mariemont Elementary this year. Mariemont’s “dreamlike existence,” according to Catherine, along with a compelling school system, is what pulled Carrie and her family to consider a move. I asked the newly minted Mariemont residents how they were feeling on their first day at their
on her big first day, Hazel proudly produced an Elsa microphone and explained that it was coming to school with her. I can only aspire to her smiling confidence in a new situation-perhaps I should get myself an Elsa mic.
Dr. Art Evans with his grandchildren outside the Elementary.
The Hafner family enjoy their first day experience.
new school and I got wide smiles as girls Molly and Kate iterated their excitement for this new adventure.
of Kindergarten, the first day of 6th grade, or returning to watch your grandchildren enter the same school you once attended, back to school in Mariemont is an event we are fortunate to have.
Then the time came for school to start. Everyone lined up with their respective grades, and families watched with pride as their children filed inside. Whether the first day
Many parents walk their children to school, but it’s not every day you get to return to your old stomping grounds to walk your grandchildren to the same school you once attended. This year, that is just what Dr. Arthur Evans and his wife, Catherine Evans, got to do. I met this special family as they joined the crowd at the front of the Mariemont Elementary School. Dr. Evans is the chairman of Obstetrics & Gynecology at U.C. College of Medicine and graduated from Mariemont High School in 1965, in the same building that now houses the elementary school. He was the class president, captain of the football team, has been named a distinguished alumnus, was inducted into Mariemont’s Hall of Fame, and continues to support Mariemont Schools. When I spoke to Catherine, she told me although Dr. Evans grew up in Mariemont, they have only lived in Mariemont as a couple for 10 years. According to Dr. Evans, Mariemont hasn’t changed in 50 years, and this is meant in the best possible way. Mariemont has that old, small-town feel that never fades, a feature that drew the couple back.
I then met Adam and Jill Hafner who are returning residents to the Village after living in Oakley. They told me they have felt so welcomed into the community, and were eager for the start of school (some of the children were even reportedly awake at 5a.m.— but you didn’t hear that from me). After talking with the Hafners, I got a confident rundown of the first day of Kindergarten from Hazel Robinson and her dad, Ben Robinson. When asked how she was feeling
We have the opportunity to spend time with our children as they walk to and from school, the peace of mind of a safe community, and the privilege of a top-notch education. I look forward to the day, five years from now, when I get to walk my son to Mariemont Elementary, watch him walk through the same doors I once did, and experience the giddiness that is Mariemont Back to School.