Celebration to commemorate Pietrzycki High School cornerstone centennial

DAYTON–On April 20, 1923, the cornerstone of Pietrzycki High School was laid, and the new building was ready for students for the 1923-24 school year, built at a cost of $120,000, $60,000 provided from the estate of Marcel M. Pietrzycki, and the balance from a bond issue.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the event, Dayton Schools is inviting the community to a campus-wide celebration to include a dramatic presentation, history, and reception and refreshments on Thursday, April 20.

"Without his passion and dedication to Dayton, we would not have our beloved high school or our beautiful City Park, and so much more," said Suzi Tasker, Dayton School District Administrative Assistant-Communications, who has guided planning and research for the celebration.

"On April 20, we are inviting you to a Community Open House to wander the hallways of our historic high school, see the pictures, artifacts and amazing pieces of history we have found," Tasker added.

During school hours, various classes will be treated to special celebration activities, then the Community Open House kicks off at 5 p.m. at Pietrzycki High School.

The Dayton Kiwanis Club will be serving free hot dogs in Ms. Franklin's Home Ec classroom and there will be a cake and punch reception in the High School Commons.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m. will be a Career and Technical Education Forecast with Ms. Crane and Mr. Pearson in the VoAg Building. The presentation will repeat at 6:30 p.m.

The Seventh and Eighth Grade Drama Class will present an original production centering on Dr. Marcel M. Pietrzycki at 6 p.m. in the High School Auditorium. Prior to the drama, Waitsburg Lodge No. 16, Free and Accepted Masons, will make a brief presentation.

In addition, visitors to the event may view a Dayton High School Alumni presentation in the High School Media Center (Library), look over various artifacts and a historical display of Pietrzycki's Legacy in the High School Media Center (Library), take a tour of the Vocational/Agricultural building and learn more about CTE and all the Pietrzycki Fund has provided, plus people may enjoy visiting with their friends and neighbors.

Students in grades Kindergarten through Fifth Grade will break from regular classroom duties to enjoy games and the Pietrzycki drama from approximately 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Middle and High School students will meet after lunch with their classes and advisors, receive a Pietrzycki packet of info and view a brief Powerpoint slide show before dispersing on a selfie scavenger hunt, Pietrzycki Edition. At 2 p.m., they will be in the gym for cake and a Hundred Year Hype Assembly with Walla Walla DJ to blow the roof off the gym and some good old-fashioned games. School releases at 3 p.m. after which staff and administration will set up for the Community Portion in the evening.

In connection with the anniversary but at a later date, a Rededication Ceremony of the cornerstone by Waitsburg Lodge No. 16, F. & A. M. will take place on September 23, 2023.

Marcel M. Pietrzycki, M.D., was a diverse and unconventional man, according to a biographical program researched and compiled by Tasker and Denise Hoon, former school district employee and volunteer researcher. The presentation was made to Dayton Kiwanis on March 23.

Pietrzycki was born April 25, 1843, in Galacia, Austria, a Polish province. He emigrated to the United States at age 23 in 1866 and in 1872, graduated from medical college in California. He and Mary S. Warren married June 29, 1876. They had a daughter, Helena, and a son, Warren.

In 1880, Pietrzycki and family came to Dayton after brief stints in California and Oregon. Unbeknownst to the newcomers, trying times awaited.

No sooner was Dr. Pietrzycki established here when a smallpox epidemic descended upon Dayton in 1881. Folks believed it was chicken pox, but Pietrzycki, against public sentiment, attempted to establish a quarantine to check the disease's spread.

"His aggressive action was later credited with stopping the spread of small pox," Tasker told the Kiwanians. By December 17, only three Dayton residences were flying the yellow quarantine flag. Mail service to and from Dayton was halted, and school canceled. Classes resumed January 2, 1882.

"Dr. Marcel Pietrzycki, who had been the first to alert the citizens of Dayton and Columbia County to the outbreak's potential, went on to become a leading citizen of Columbia County and served as Dayton's mayor in the 1890s," Phil Dougherty wrote in 1881.

Sadly, by early 1883, both of the children, Warren and Helena, had died at very young ages, the presentation indicated. The death of their children inspired the Pietrzyckis to help the children of Dayton.

The doctor and his wife built a house at 415 East Clay Street, which still stands to this day and is known as "The Purple House." Pietrzycki's medical clinic was next door, approximately in the location of the Dayton Memorial Library. Another residence he built was about where the Vocational Building is located on the school campus.

Pietrzycki was a progressive thinker. He established Lubla Farms, a co-operative agricultural and industrial colony, situated in the Starbuck area. He claimed a quarter section 14 miles south of Starbuck on which he could pursue his progressive thoughts and ideas. He sunk wells and cultivated the 5,500 acres, later growing the operation to include a cattle company and an additional 3,500-plus acres.

Grain produced was stored at Lubla Mills and Warehouse in Starbuck around 1907. His holdings included several town lots, a grist mill powered by water from the Tucannon River. Pietrzycki brought electricity to Starbuck, financing the electric company and its water-powered generator and street lights. The venture was later sold and renamed Starbuck Electric Company.

In 1908, Pietrzycki set down the parameters for his Co-Op Colony: $1,000 per membership and individual liberty retained as possible; governance, wage, participation, vocation, health, and stock and equipment.

An interesting side note: Pietrzycki designed an engineered proposal to move grain around Celilo Falls. The also wrote proposals for a county hospital and asylum and city park.

Every heard of Hompegg Falls? This popular recreational area on the North Touchet, about 12 miles from town, was frequented by a number of principal campers, the name taken from their initials: Moses Hester, Arthur Oppenheminer, S.M. Mears, Marcel Pietrzycki, George Eckler, and D.C. and F.W. Guernsey (GG)–spells HOMPEGG.

Pietrzycki died unexpectedly in 1910, shocking the community. As quoted from the Dayton Chronicle of September 14, 1910:

- "The sudden taking of the doctor was unexpected, as only a few days ago he was seen among his friends and seemed to be in his usual health and spirit, which was always robust and jovial, and pleasant to everyone."

-"If Dayton possessed several men as public spirited as was Dr. Pietrzycki the town would be far in advance of what it is today."

-"He was the first to establish the fact that good crops could be raised in the northern portion of the county by proper cultivation..."

-"...He busied himself in laying a foundation for a park for the city, and had he lived would have realized his dream of seeing the citizens of his adopted home enjoying his magnificent gift."

The Dayton Lodge, No. 20, Free and Accepted Masons, laid the cornerstone. "I opened the Grand Lodge in the Lodge room of Dayton, No. 20, and laid the corner-stone of a new building, the Pietrzycki Memorial High School, located in Dayton. I was assisted by Right Worshipful Brother Morton Gregory, Junior Grand Warden, and Past Grand Master Charles D. Atkins. Worshipful Brother Roy I. Cahill, as Grand Orator, delivered a splendid oration on citizenship as exemplified in the life of him to whose memory the high school building will stand as a memorial, he having bequeathed a large sum of money for the erection of this building to be dedicated to the youth of Columbia County. All the school children of Dayton surrounded the building, their leaders carrying Old Glory, and they made a very imposing sight."

In today's economy, Pietrzycki's $140,000 bequest would have a value of $2,458,673, it is estimated. The school receives an annual distribution of about $5,000, and Pietrcyzki Park is enjoyed every day by the citizens of Dayton and Columbia County.

Endowment funds have purchased vans for student transportation, welders, ventilation for Ag shop, greenhouse heating/cooling, plasma cutter, aprons for the Ag Shop, FFA-Ag Shop Floral Cooler, interactive project screen and more.