This summer, Moorhead High School had a special group of visitors, as a bus full of residents from Eventide Senior Living came to tour and experience the new space first-hand.

Brian Cole, an orchestra teacher at Horizon Middle School and author of the 2023 book “Once A Spud Always A Spud,” organized the visit following the quarterly “Spud Update” he gives to Eventide residents on the progress of the ongoing MHS construction project.

“In April, one of the residents said ‘oh I wish we could take a look at the new building’ and another said ‘we should take a field trip!’” recalled Cole. “The staff at the [MAPS] Operations Center helped put together a nice day for our visitors, with the Transportation office arranging a bus and Food Services providing lunch.”

Cole, along with MAPS Superintendent Dr. Brandon Lunak, school board member Matt Valan and MHS students spoke with the visitors about the present and future of MHS before they got a chance to see the new building for themselves—including having their meal in the main commons, where MHS students currently eat breakfast and lunch. “This group of residents included former MHS students, family members and even a couple teachers,” said Cole. “We like to say ‘Once a Spud, Always a Spud’.’

Present and past students helped make the visit meaningful with music performances and stories about their lives, future plans and time at MHS. Spud football players especially enjoyed the visit as they have a special tie with residents. During the fall sports season, a handful of Eventide residents make peanut butter sandwiches for the MHS Football team. They wanted to thank the group and show them parts of the new facilities—including the refrigerator where the sandwiches are stored on game days.

“These special visitors’ memories and stories might have been in the old building, but they wanted to come see the future. It’s fun to think about how the MHS students who spoke to our visitors this time may come back in 60 years and be the guests at a future high school building,” remarked Cole.

According to Cole, Moorhead Schools and Eventide Senior Living hope to work together to arrange future visits where Eventide residents can attend MHS functions such as sporting events and theater productions.