A Bus Trip to a Better Future

Until the mid-1950s, Saginaw’s high schools served as the “finishing schools” (offering 11th & 12th grades) for surrounding community school students whose local districts only offered a curriculum through 10th grade.  One such community was Frankenmuth.

1930 10th-grade graduation photo from Frankenmuth (courtesy of Frankenmuth Historical Association via Alta Fechter).  Alta Fechter (3rd R, 4th from L) would go on to attend Arthur Hill High School, graduating in 1932.

Frankenmuth students who elected to attend further schooling after 10th grade would pay tuition and ride a bus to Arthur Hill High School for 11th and 12 grades.  At one point, students were hired to drive the bus to and from Saginaw, earning the princely stipend of $1.00/week.   This often resulted in a 10-hour day for these students when factoring in the round trip. 

Despite the long day, after World War II more and more students desired this further education, and by 1955, Frankenmuth was sending just over 100 students to Saginaw annually.  With other local schools doing the same, enrollment became unmanageable at the two Saginaw city high schools.

Frankenmuth Students graduating from Arthur Hill in 1945 (FHA) - There were 22 Frankenmuth students who graduated from Arthur Hill HS in 1945 (12 male and 10 female).  In the next decade, enrollment from Frankenmuth would more than double.

In 1955, Saginaw school officials announced that Arthur Hill would no longer accept out-of-district tuition students after the 1956 school year and Saginaw High would not accept any after the 1957 school year.  Accordingly, voters in Frankenmuth passed a levy to expand their current high school campus, resulting in the

construction of a “state of the art” building which opened for the first time serving grades 9 – 12 in 1957. 

"Old" Frankenmuth High School that went through grade 10.

(L-R) Alta Fechter & Friends (from FHA/Alta Fechter) - Frankenmuth's Alta Fechter and friends pose on the front porch of Zehnder's Restaurant - Alta is 3rd from L, next to a young man in an Arthur Hill HS letterman sweater. (Center) Alta Fechter's invitation to the Arthur Hill Class of 1932 25-year Class Reunion (Fha/Alta Fechter). (R) Irene Zeilinger diploma (1939) (FHA/Irene Zeilinger) - Among Irene's many accomplishments, she became the first Frankenmuth female to enlist in WWII when she joined the Navy WAVES in 1944.  She later became the editor of the Frankenmuth News and served in that capacity for 25 years.

3 ads from the Arthur Hill HS yearbook, the "Lagenda" (Castle Museum)

The Recipe: Oma's Mushroom Soup

A traditional fall German recipe, perfect for when temperatures begin to cool off.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. button mushrooms

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 2 T. butter

• 1 T AP flour

• 3 3/4 C. chicken stock

• 1 3/4 C. milk

• salt

• pepper

• nutmeg

• parsley to garnish

Directions:

Clean mushrooms. Remove 2 nice ones to keep for garnish. Finely chop the remaining mushrooms.

In a large saucepan, sauté the onion and mushrooms in butter for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir well.

Cook for another minute.

Remove the saucepan from heat. Add the stock and the milk, stirring well.

Return to heat and cook over medium heat until soup thickens, stirring constantly.

Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

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Notes:

-We chose not to garnish with parsley, just using the chopped mushroom we reserved.

-The CTK used whole milk, but one could easily substitute half & half or whipping cream for part of the recipe for a thicker and richer soup.

-The CTK used a combination of (2/3) white mushrooms and (1/3) portabella mushrooms, all finely chopped. This is to your preference.