When celebrating a big milestone like a centennial, it’s always fun to look back and see how things used to be and how they’ve changed.  It’s in that spirit that the South Huntington School District has put together a special “Then & Now” exhibit.  As the district celebrates its 100th anniversary, the presentation allows us to look back at our schools, our people, and our community to see the changes we’ve been through since the district was established on December 10, 1924. 

The display of 30 poster boards features photos and stories of some well-known landmarks and events in and around our district that have transformed significantly over the last 100 years or, in some cases, have disappeared.  For instance, what students know these days as Target and Chick-fil-A - both very popular places in South Huntington today - were very different, but still popular places 65 and 94 years ago, respectively. 

After hours and hours of research digging through school archives, yearbooks, Long Island newspapers, searching the internet, talking with Huntington Town Historian Robert Hughes, and rummaging through Huntington Historical Society records going back decades, we’ve found some great old photos of people and places that tell the story of the community we call home.

The display will be on exhibit at various 100th anniversary events planned throughout the school year.  The first chance the community will have to see the presentation will be this Friday, October 18th during Homecoming Weekend festivities.  It will be exhibited around the plaza by the new Walt Whitman High School grandstand and concession stand.  It will be a chance for the generations of families who have attended South Huntington schools to walk down memory lane and share some happy experiences of what it was like to go to our schools “Then & Now.”