RACINE - Alyce, Carol, Linda and Janet met in Rosemary Fritchen's kindergarten class at Garfield School.

It was the 1950s. Times were different.

They were the first of the baby boomers. Polio pioneers who walked home from school for chicken soup lunches and lived what seemed like the idyllic lives depicted in television shows like "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best."

Some of their classmates moved away when they grew older.

This group of four friends stayed close and never left Racine. They've shared the joys and sorrows that come with time. They've remained close through an age when the idea of closeness seems like a distant thought.

"In this day and age, you don't think of somebody staying in the same city for 50 years," said Alyce Hermanson. "Not many people can say their friends are friends they met in kindergarten."

One of the highlights

A few days ago, Hermanson crawled through the rafters and up a rickety ladder at Julian Thomas School, 930 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The bell was off-limits to Hermanson and her classmates when they were students there, back when it was Garfield School. That was half a century ago.

As an adult, Hermanson, 61, rang the bell.

She might be one of the only students from her class ever to ring the school's bell, which is a source of giddy pleasure. It took 50 years, but it was certainly one of the highlights of her life, she said.

The school and the students, who may or may not have rung the bell, will celebrate the building's 150th anniversary in April.

The school's celebration is a little later than the actual sesquicentennial, which was in 2007, but it's close enough for those who still remember the time when they walked through the hallways, a time that now seems so long ago.

The school's first students attended during the 1857-58 school year.

Hermanson and her friends were in the sixth grade when the school celebrated its centennial in 1957. She still has a napkin from the celebration.

The upcoming anniversary is just as important to Hermanson.

"Just the fact that after all these years, we still have such wonderful memories of a time, 50 years ago, a time that seemed so innocent," Hermanson said.

Hermanson said classmates from Georgia and California plan to return to Racine for an April 7 celebration at the school. A group of sixth-graders from the Garfield School class of 1957-58 plan to gather afterward at Infusino's, along with Fritchen, their kindergarten teacher.

A flood of memories

Walking through the school as an adult, the memories come flooding back to Hermanson, a retired preschool teacher.

The original part of the building remains today, including the wooden floors on which Hermanson and her classmates walked.

The school district remodeled the building and built an addition in 2003, when it renamed the school after local civil rights leader Julian Thomas.

However, some of the floors still squeak the way they squeaked 50 years ago, Hermanson said.

"It all floods back to you. It's amazing how something like that can trigger such memories," she said.

While times and the city have changed, the four friends - including Carol Mead, Linda Schneck and Janet Akulian - have grown closer. Their friendship has grown stronger.

As she gets older, Hermanson gets a little more philosophical about life.

"Relationships and friendships are something money can't buy - they're irreplaceable," Hermanson said. "You realize that you need to appreciate each day."

If You Go

WHAT: Celebration of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the original Garfield School building (now Julian Thomas School)

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 7

WHERE: The Julian Thomas multi-purpose room at the school, 930 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

CONTACT: If you have any memorabilia or would like to participate in the 150th anniversary celebration contact the school at 664-8400

The event is open to the public.