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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Emotions were on full display at Pelham Oaks Elementary as the school held a dedication ceremony to honor the memory of Melanie Sherer on Thursday, July 25.

The event marked the official emplacement and unveiling of a new memorial bench at the school’s playground that will serve as a lasting tribute to Sherer’s impact on the school.

“For years, she was the first face you would see when you came into Pelham Oaks—she was our secretary,” Pelham Oaks Principal Chase Holden said. “When families came in, Mrs. Sherer was the first person to greet them and she was always the happiest, most welcoming person you could ask for. The kids loved her, the parents loved her, the faculty loved her and everyone felt loved by her.”

Sherer, who died in December 2022, was an active member of the school’s community for 20 years as the school’s secretary, and was also known for regularly assuming the roles of a crossing guard and P.E. aide throughout her years at Pelham Oaks. Her dedication to the position and love for the children at Pelham Oaks ran so deep, that her family requested donations be made to the school in lieu of flowers at her funeral.

“She was everything you could ever want in a school secretary,” Holden said. “When she did pass away, it was such a hit to the school. It truly was a loss for the whole community at large.”

Since that time, the staff at the school had been in search of a way to honor Sherer’s legacy and lasting memory at Pelham Oaks. According to Holden, a group of staff members got together and eventually settled upon the emplacement of a memorial bench on the school grounds. With the added help of donations from members of the staff, progress on the bench soon made headway with the bench being procured this summer and made ready for installation.

“We wanted to do something that would last for a long time but also be useful and functional in the school setting,” Holden said. “The idea of placing it on the school playground really came down to honoring her legacy. If her legacy is all about the way she impacted our school and what she did for the students, there is no better place to serve the students (than where they are).”

The exact placement for the bench further became apparent with the arising need to replace an aging bench on the site.

“We had a bench on the playground that was called ‘The Buddy Bench’ where if a kid needed a friend they could go sit on the bench,” Holden said. “That bench was rotting and needed to be replaced. It just kind of worked out well that we got rid of that bench and this one was able to go in in its place. Her bench is now the new ‘Buddy Bench.’ We thought it was a great way to honor her legacy.”

Inscribed with the quote, “She who leaves a trail of glitter is not forgotten,” Sherer’s bench is now in place and will serve in its first year as the playground’s new buddy bench and the site of newly formed friendships at the start of this school year.