West Virginia waste workers locate, return vintage yearbooks
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Palatka Daily News employee Teresa Davis, left, holds a copy of the 1953 Mellon High School yearbook that was dedicated to her grandfather, who taught at the school.
If books could talk, there’s no telling what the two tomes found at a recycling center in West Virginia would say.
“I’ve thought about that a lot,” said Sherrie A. Hunter, director of education for the Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority. “They came in together about 6 or 8 feet apart on the conveyor belt.”
Two yearbooks from the former Mellon High School in Palatka were found at the E. Paul Barley Recycling & Education Center in Beckley, West Virginia.
The Mellon Patch yearbooks that were found are from 1952 and 1953. Plant supervisor Barry Martin found the latter yearbook first and took it and the 1952 edition to Hunter, who also serves as a councilwoman at large for the Beckley Common Council.
“When Barry finds treasures, he brings them to my office,” she said. “I try my best to connect dots and return those treasures to their owners or someone who would want them.”
Hunter’s efforts came in the form of a call to the Palatka Daily News on Aug. 25, during which time she talked with circulation bookkeeper Staci Fletcher about the books that were found.
Three days later, the books arrived by mail to the Palatka Daily News, where they will stay.
“It was very moving,” Fletcher said. “To take the time and put in the effort means so much. We need more people like this in the world.”
Hunter said a yearbook, especially one that is 70 years old, is a treasure and should be returned so people can see their loved ones’ school photos from decades ago.
“When I leafed through the pages, I found the dress attire for the students to be remarkable,” she said. “They were all dressed up in their best going-to-church clothes.”
The 1953 yearbook had a special note of interest for the Daily News’ credit manager and accounts receivable bookkeeper, Teresa Davis.
“My grandfather, Gilbert Osterberg, taught for many years in this community both in high school and on the college level, so I thought when the books arrived, he might be listed as faculty,” Davis said.
Davis was right, but what she saw was a surprise.
“He meant a great deal to his students and I was thrilled to find that the 1953 yearbook was dedicated to him,” she said. “The words that his students wrote were beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. They described the man that I had always known, a great example and wonderful, kind person. I have always been incredibly proud to be his granddaughter but never more proud than now.”
Hunter will have spent 22 years on the job come Oct. 8, and she is still amazed at the things that come across her desk.
“I’ve returned a Bible, a set of keys to a church secretary, who told me she had been praying to St. Anthony the Patron Saint of Lost Things, a high school diploma, a child’s pocketbook with $12 inside, numerous decades of old newspaper articles, a stamp collection and, to top it off, an uncashed $10,000 IRS refund check.”
Hunter said nothing has been as special as reuniting 70-year-old yearbooks to their origins about 652 miles away.
“This is certainly the most fascinating and wonderful find, hands down,” she said.
Hunter said there isn’t any way to identify who dropped off the yearbooks at the education center, but she encourages others who make special finds to make a call to talk with someone about them.
“Do a little bit of investigation and perhaps you will be reuniting a long-lost treasure like the Mellon Patch yearbooks to loved ones in faraway places,” she said.
“A lot has changed since that call and my horizons have broadened since finding the yearbooks on my desk. I now know there is a city named Palatka, Florida, where kind and considerate people live. That touches my heart.”
