ARLINGTON — The Trafton School has been closed for more than a year, but the members of the Oso Community Chapel have no intention of letting the historic building go to waste.
On Sept. 24, more than a dozen parishioners arrived early on a Saturday morning, armed with tools ranging from brooms and vacuum cleaners to a weed-whacker, to spruce up the old building as the first step toward establishing it as the site for a non-profit community program called “HighPoint.”
“We’re just barely getting going yet,” said Gary Ray, pastor of the Oso Community Chapel, as his family joined a few others in clearing out the dust and rubbish to make the school building’s rooms clean and safe for new occupants. “We hope to open our doors to the public by mid-October, although we’ll still be starting small.”
Although it’s not associated with the YMCA, HighPoint is modeled after the YMCA in its aim to network a number of area resources under one roof, including low-cost recreation, art, music, fellowship and spiritual enrichment programs.
Among those planned programs are music for children — ranging from guitar and drum lessons to songwriting and options for choir and drama — as well as homework assistance, craft and computer classes, and specialized workshops such as gardening, money management, woodworking, home repair and first aid. The spiritual enrichment classes are set to cover both weekly fellowship times for adults and weekly youth groups and fellowship times for teens. A lending library of books, videos, DVDs and games will even be available.
“The church will handle the staffing, supplies and administrative support, as well as the insurance and licenses,” Ray said. “The Arlington School District has not only lowered the cost of the lease, but will also be providing bus transportation to the school and maintenance workers to mow the lawn. We can use the playground and field for sports like T-ball and soccer, although obviously not for league play.”
Although none of the volunteers who spoke to The Arlington Times had attended Trafton when it was still a school, they all expressed strong feelings about keeping it alive as a place where children and adults alike could congregate.
“My grandpa and dad both went to the old Arlington High School,” said Aaron Ronning, who trimmed the overgrown weeds outside while his 9-year-old son Soren wiped down the whiteboards and 15-year-old daughter Annisa swept up the floors inside. “I live right in Jim Creek, so it’s not like I’m not going to notice this big building here,” he laughed. “It’s got a lot of history, but not a lot going on right now, so this is a great opportunity to use a facility that’s literally a historic landmark to connect to the community.”
To that end, Ray reassured area residents that the church had no plans to alter the schoolhouse radically.
“We’re stripping some of the chipped paint, so that it won’t be a hazard to the children, but we’re not repainting the murals,” Ray said. “We’re definitely not cutting down the old tree. We understand the historic significance of these things.”
Those who are interested in learning more can swing by Legion Park from 4-6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 for a promotional barbecue and fellowship event. Those who might be able to donate money or items for classes, or contribute their skills as course instructors or maintenance workers, are encouraged to contact Ray by phone at 360-435-8027 or via email at TraftonCC@gmail.com.
