Todd Breinich can name nearly all of his classmates in his kindergarten class of 1974/1975 at Vera Cruz Elementary School.

In a telephone interview Feb. 14, he recalled names while looking at the composite array of pictures arranged in the display shown. Breinich recognized the twins, Donald and Douglas; classmates-slash-neighbors, Jessica, Paul and Tony; friends, Debbie, Chris, Beth, Renée, Cindy, Jeff, Melissa, Dee Dee, Billy, Karen and more.

Many of his kindergarten classmates would remain at Vera Cruz through their fifth grade year, 18 of the 25, Breinich said.

“I had a blast at Vera Cruz School,” Breinich said.

That’s him, by the way, to the left in the blue sweater vest and tie.

He may be just the type of person the Upper Milford Historical society is looking for.

Neil Moser, historian of the Upper Milford Historical Society, said the class photo is just one of many the society has received of people and places in the township.

The photo of the Vera Cruz Elementary School kindergarten class 1974/ 1975 was donated to the society likely by one of the students pictured, according to Moser. Unfortunately, however, names for the students were not included with the donation.

Moser would like to be able to add names to the faces for the future when viewers seeing the photo will ask the inevitable question – who’s that?

“We get them from people who have graduated,” Moser said of the provenance of some of the school photos in the society’s collection.

“It’s amazing what we’ve got. It’s fantastic.”

For example, the collection includes a commencement program from 1933 for the joint commencement ceremony of the many one-room schoolhouses in the township at the time. All eighth grade students from all schools gathered for one ceremony, Moser said. A photo to accompany the program would be a welcome treasure, especially since Moser’s mother-in-law was among the students participating in the ceremony that year, he said.

Moser, who has been involved with the historical society for many years, added the job of historian to his list of titles about 18 months ago, he said in a telephone interview Feb. 3. He also has served as the vice president and president of the group.

Photographs of people and places in Upper Milford Township are among items in the society’s collection. The family of a member of the society who recently died also has donated various artifacts collected in the township.

Parts of the collection are displayed in the Upper Milford Township municipal building, 5671 Chestnut St., the former King’s Highway Elementary School, where the society makes its home in a former classroom.

The society meets the last Thursday of each month except November and December. Meetings start 7 p.m.

The next meeting will be Feb. 24 and will feature a program on the Perkiomen Railroad.

Other upcoming topics include the legacy of the Stahl family of potters in Upper Milford Township as well as the villages of Shimerville and Vera Cruz.

“It’s interesting when we get older people coming in and talking about the villages they lived in,” Moser said.

The society is particularly interested in learning about what used to be in the township but does not exist anymore, places such as Vera Cruz Elementary School.

Although the building still stands, it no longer houses a school. New tenants include a wellness center and a custom guitar maker.

The marker at the entrance to what was once the playground, however, looks much as it did in the school’s heyday.

“We knew each other pretty well. We all got along,” Breinich said of his classmates. Classmates would see each other out of school such as at the Emmaus Community Park pool in the summer, play on sports teams together and stay friends into middle school, high school and beyond.

“It was a really good experience to go there,” Breinich said.

Visit the society’s website at https://www.uppermilford.org or write to the society at Upper Milford Historical Society, 5671 Chestnut Street St., P.O. Box 210, Old Zionsville, 18068.

As way of full disclosure, this writer also attended kindergarten at Vera Cruz Elementary School, although a few years before 1974/1975. Jessica, Paul and Tony were my neighbors too. Todd as well. Thanks for the interview, Todd.