Historic landmark hosts day-long festivities honoring rural education, agriculture, and community roots
BUCKEYE, Colo. – The Buckeye School will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a Centennial Celebration on Saturday, August 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 935 West County Road 80. The event will give Northern Colorado residents a chance to step back in time, explore the region’s agricultural and educational heritage, and enjoy family-friendly activities.
Festivities will include a quilt show, a homemade bake sale, vintage tractor displays, and memorabilia from the Buckeye Buck ‘N Ears 4-H Club spanning 1957 to 2025. Visitors can enjoy old-fashioned entertainment, including square dancing from the 1940s and ‘50s (11 a.m.–noon), a Dixieland band performance (noon–1 p.m.), and era-specific games for all ages. Alumni will share stories of life in a two-room schoolhouse during a special session from 3–4 p.m., and a large-screen photo display will showcase the school’s century of history.
One of the day’s highlights will be the Grand Opening of the renovated Buckeye Sugar Beet Scale House, complete with an authentic sign, the original scale, and historic photographs of the scale in operation. Displays will demonstrate how crops are irrigated and offer visitors the chance to see—and taste—actual sugar beets.
In keeping with a century-old tradition, free baked potatoes will be served until they run out. The custom recalls the days when students brought potatoes from home to be baked on classroom stoves for a warm winter lunch.
The celebration will also feature vendors and information booths, including Fred’s Little Metal Critters & Signs, a Questers Antique Sale benefiting historic preservation, Kay Allen’s personalized cloth Christmas ornaments, CSU Extension Service Master Gardeners, and a Virginia Dale Quilt Display with a raffle.
A Century of Buckeye School History
Buckeye School was built in 1925 for $4,983.17—slightly more than the bid amount after the School District #55 Board of Directors opted for oak floors instead of pine. The school featured two classrooms, each with its entrance, 10-foot ceilings, and windows placed behind students to minimize distractions. Light came primarily from the windows, with kerosene lamps for dark days. Water came from a cistern, and privies stood out back. Each classroom had a wood or coal stove, with additional stoves in the basement, which also served as the “Teacherage” living area and an indoor recess space during bad weather…