As good-byes go, this one was spectacular.
A closing ceremony Thursday night at Bowling Green Junior High School drew graduates from every decade going back to the 1930s.
There was plenty of laughter and handshakes as classmates greeted another, and comments of appreciation over the memorabilia that lined the first-floor hallway.
Memories of the exciting events for high school and junior high students over the past 80-plus years were jogged as graduates flipped through yearbook pages, school newspapers and scrapbooks that were on display.
A 1937 issue of The Scarlet Parrot, which remains the name for the high school newspaper even today, announced that commencement speakers that spring would be President H.B. Williams, of Bowling Green State University, and Rev. T.E. Winter, of Church of Christ. "The Plainsman" starring Gary Cooper was showing at the Cla-Zel theater that month.
Hi Echo yearbooks provided a trip back in time to the dances, athletics, clubs and activities of the 1950s and on.
A scrapbook from March 1953 had newspaper clippings of the death of Russian President Andrei Stalin next to pages about Bobcat basketball team's loss to Newark in the state championships.

For Mack Miller, recalling his school years prior to graduating in 1943 brought back memories of sports, dances and girls.
"I hope they don't tear it down," said Rae Thomson, of Grand Rapids, who graduated in 1962, only a handful of years before the building was turned into junior high. "It's just a really good place."
Norm Geer, another member of the Class of 1962, said he remembers exactly where in the school he first saw his future wife, Tari. She was in eighth grade, he in ninth, and that glimpse by the water fountain had to last him until he got the nerve to actually speak to her.
He called the evening "really neat. I like seeing all the people out."
He spoke fondly of the school, which will sit empty once classroom materials are moved across town in July to the new junior high on Poe Road. An exterior design of the new school also was on display.
Ellen Scholl, a member of Bowling Green's Board of Education, said she was thrilled with the turnout.
"I think it's exceeded our expectations," added Linda Gullufsen, junior high music teacher and member of the "Leaving on a High Note" organizing committee.
"This is phenomenal. We weren't expecting this many people to show up," said Assistant Principal Joseph Zabowski.
Back in the hallway, a 1964 FFA jacket belonging to Bill Long showed not everything changes: Jackets for students in vocational education are still blue corduroy with yellow stitching and patches.
Students in this year's seventh- and eighth-grades also contributed to the collection by listing their favorite memories, classes and teachers on colored paper hung on the walls.
This is the last month students will grace the halls of the school, which has stood at the corner of West Wooster and South Church streets since 1928. Students in grades 7-8 will start the 2009-10 school year at the new middle school being built on Poe Road. Faculty and staff need to be out of the building on June 5, and moving crews will take over in July.
This grand old building has served Bowling Green people well for more than 80 years, said Superintendent Hugh Caumartin to open the entertainment portion of the evening. "This building has literally touched the lives of thousands of people over the years."
Additionally, "students who have passed through this building have gone on to accomplish great things."
Three BGHS graduates and a future alum entertained audiences with music and magic.
Vocalist Nick De La Torre, of the Class of 2006, opened the program with "Oh Shenandoah," accompanied on piano by Olga Topuzova-Meade, with the College of Musical Arts at BGSU.
Chris Woessner, Class of 2011, performed on piano, and magician Joe Butler, Class of 1970, gave a magic demonstration that wowed even the skeptics in the audience.
The highlight was a three-song performance from violinist Zach DePue, who graduated from Bowling Green in 1997.
A DVD chronicling the 1920s - including construction photos from 1927-28 - through 2009 encouraged smatterings of applause as audience members glimpsed themselves and classmates.
While others were looking back and remembering the good times, some teachers already were planning ahead to being in a new building this fall.
"I honestly don't think I'm going to miss anything," said Jo Graber, who has taught English in the building for 30 years - on the third-floor, no less, where the heat becomes unbearable in the fall and spring. "I'm just so excited," she said about moving into the new school.

Photos: Aaron Carpenter/Sentinel-Tribune