At the end of May, George Reed donated time and materials to the construction of a new parking lot at the Clements Community Center.
Jeff Reed approved George Reed to lead this parking lot project for the Clements Community Center. The George Reed Project Engineer, Steve Kubat, sought donations from some sub-contractors and the Community Center itself raised some capital in their fundraising efforts.
The material from the George Reed Clements plant was partly donated and the George Reed crew time was donated to build the new parking lot.
Jeff Wright, brought the project to George Reed. He is a teacher at Lincoln High School in Stockton and has a ranch in Clements. He was the driving force behind developing the construction department at Lincoln High School and was able to develop the construction program.
History of Clements Community Center
The present Clements School Community Center is located on the site of its predecesor, the Athearn School. The Athearn School was a stately two-story structure consisting of two classrooms. The school was built of locally made brick donated by Thomas Clements from his Clements Brickyard. The property for the school was also donated and deeded to the school district in May of 1879 by Stillman Magee. Numerous local residents donated lumber, glass, doors, furniture and books for the construction and furnishing of the new school. The community was extremely proud of their new school when it opened its doors in 1879.
In 1937, a Tornado hit Clements and there was severe structural damage to the Athearn School. After the tornado, the school structure was not earthquake-proof so it was condemned in 1938. The following year a referendum was passed to combine the Athearn School, the Justice School and Washington School Districts into the Clements Union School District. In 1939, local residents passed a school bond to construct the present Clements School that consists of three classrooms and an auditorium.
In the fall of 1940, the newly constructed school opened as the Clements Union School. The Clements school served approxiamately seventy to eighty students. They had three teachers with one of the acting as the school principal. In 1967, the Clements Union District merged with the Lodi Unified School District.
The Clements School operated with the Lodi Unified School District until 2011. The Clements School was a historical and significant part of the Clements community. The residents of Clements wanted to see their old schoolhouse preserved. Community members worked diligently and were able to secure the property and building from Lodi Unified School District. In 2012, they created a nonprofit entity with the specific purpose of preserving the history of the Clements School. This corporation is organized and operated exclusively as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). They have worked tirelessly over the past years to create a Clements School Community Center for resident of the Clements area. The Clements community has restored the old buiding and turned it into a beautiful community center. All of the work and materials to restore the school building has been through in-kind donations, fundraisers and cash contributions.
Comments