Local residents Aaron Hamilton and Nathania Dallas recently partnered to establish the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship Fund — a scholarship in memorial of six members of the ‘04 cohort who died since graduating. (Submitted photo)
Class of ’04 honors past classmates with scholarship
- Published: July 26, 2024
The Yellow Springs High School Class of 2004 celebrated its 20th anniversary last month with a contingent of just over a dozen class members. Those gathered were only a portion of the class, which is typical of reunions — but there were some notable absences: Among those missing were former classmates Emily Bailey, Arla Smith, Jaeceb Chima, Meghan Murphy, Martin Borchers and Lauren Goodrick, all of whom have died.
The remaining members of the class seek to honor these former classmates through the establishment of the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship fund, to be managed by the YS Community Foundation. The scholarship will be given to future graduating students who embody some of the qualities possessed by those the scholarship memorializes.
Class of 2004 member Nathania Dallas told the News last month that the idea for the scholarship fund was sparked when she was looking through the Facebook group established for the 10th anniversary in 2014 in preparation for this year’s celebration.
“And posted [in the Facebook group] was Martin Borchers’ obituary, then it was Lauren Goodrick’s, and it just made me so sad — especially because Lauren and Martin were at our 10-year reunion,” Dallas said.
As members of the Class of 2004 began planning this year’s reunion, Dallas said, she remembered that an individual scholarship fund had been established for classmate Arla Smith, who died in 2004 just before graduating. With that in mind, Dallas suggested incorporating a scholarship fund into the event.
“When you go through all of these losses, it can feel like there’s nothing you can do — but this was something we could do,” she said.
Cementing the idea for the scholarship fund was a partnership with Sole Sickness, an apparel company founded by local resident Aaron Hamilton. Dallas said she saw a fellow classmate wearing a sweatshirt from Hamilton’s apparel line that read, in stark, block letters, “IGA LAND.” The shirt made reference to the store that formerly occupied the site where Dollar General now stands on the south end of town — a reference mainly understood by longtime Yellow Springers. Dallas said she was immediately drawn to look through Sole Sickness’ entire Yellow Springs-themed catalog, which features a number of other hyper-local references.
“To go on a website and see references that are so specific to this place was just so affirming,” Dallas said. “[Hamilton] was doing such a good job of representing Yellow Springs, and I feel like the scholarship fund really is about honoring these people and giving us a way to show support for each other and bring us together, and I feel like that’s what his line does, too.”
After looking at his work — which includes a design for the 2024 All-Class Reunion, created at the request of local resident and educator Mikasa Simms — Dallas asked Hamilton to design a shirt as a benefit for the scholarship fund.
Hamilton, who spoke with the News last week, said Sole Sickness began in 2020 as a procurement company for rare sneakers, matching up potential buyers with hard-to-find footwear. In the following two years, however, he said the shoe market began to slow down, so — though he continues to sell some sneakers through Sole Sickness — Hamilton turned much of his focus to apparel and accessories. Having been born and raised in Yellow Springs and now living in Xenia, Hamilton said a connection to his own hometown seemed like a good place to start for the new direction of his business.
“I’ve always loved YS,” he said. “So instead of trying to come out with trendy graphic T-shirts to try to push out to people, I said, ‘Well, why not just think of something that’s rooted in all the places we grew up in?’”
Though Sole Sickness does sell some apparel bearing vintage graphics, the tees and hoodies in the “YSO Collection” all follow the same simple design: white block letters on a background color of the customer’s choice. The apparel line makes reference to extant locations and neighborhoods in the village, such as Gaunt Park, Miami Drive, Union Street and Omar Circle, as well as gone-but-not-forgotten venues, including Eddie’s Drive Thru, Gabby’s BBQ, Trisha Di’s, the Party Pantry and Village Lanes.
One hooded sweatshirt, reading “WEAVERS,” humorously reminds locals of the name by which some continue to refer to local grocery store Tom’s Market, despite it having changed names a couple of times in the last several decades. Another, with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek, boldly reads: “YELLOW SPRINGS VS. EVERYBODY.”
“It kind of feels like Yellow Springs versus everybody sometimes,” Hamilton said with a laugh.
Hamilton’s design for the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship T-shirt — which is also available as a hoodie, a tote bag and sticker — resembles the other items in his line, with block letters on the front reading “REPRESENT” as a testament to those in the class who have passed, and a reference to the scholarship fund on the back. All proceeds from the sale of these items will benefit the scholarship fund.
The Sole Sickness website also hosts a Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship Fund donation portal, for those who prefer to donate directly to the fund.
“[Dallas] wants to move forward with keeping me on board as someone that does the shirts every year, and we’ll continue to host the scholarship fund [donation portal],” Hamilton said.
The Class of 2004 aims to begin disbursing funds from the scholarship next year. In honor of their former classmates, Dallas said she and the rest of the Class of 2004 hope to find a student each year who “embodies the traits of our classmates,” while recognizing that all of them had different passions, goals and personalities.
“But I think the thing that each of them have in common is that community was very important to them, and they were rooted in community,” Dallas said. “So right now, the language [for the scholarship] describes a student who ‘exemplifies a commitment to community.’ If they have demonstrated an investment in community, that’s the kind of student we’re looking for.”
Of the Class of 2004’s 50-person graduating class, 13 came out for the 20th reunion, traveling from Louisiana and Maryland; various Ohio locations, including Columbus and Chagrin Falls; or from just down the street in the village. Dallas said that as she and her former classmates reminisced, they noted that some of those memorialized by the scholarship fund didn’t graduate with their class, for a variety of reasons.
The Class of 2004 didn’t have a formal yearbook, but created a scrapbook of their memories, which included a page titled “Fallen Soldiers” — that is, those who moved away from the district or left school before graduating, and those, like Arla Smith and Emily Bailey, who died before graduation. Some of those memorialized by the scholarship are included on that page.
“But you know, being a part of our class isn’t about whether or not you graduated with us — if we ever knew you, you’re in our hearts,” Dallas said. “The people we were talking about, I wish they could know we were talking about them. If you were ever a part of us, you’re always a part of us.”
To support the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship Fund through purchase or donation, go to solesicknessohio.com and click on “‘04 Memorial Scholarship” in the link bar at the top of the page.
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