BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — A group from Beckley’s Red Brush district reunited at Country Inns and Suites on Harper Road over the Fourth of July weekend to celebrate their alma mater.

“Alot of people has come from Piney Oaks, that’s very successful, did well in life,” said Ronald Hickman, an alumni who helped plan the reunion. “And we want everybody to know where we come from, and we’re proud to be Red Brush.”

Piney Oaks Elementary School on Antonio Avenue is now abandoned and set away from the community by barbed wire.

But graduates of the school gathered Friday, June 30, 2023, to pay homage to the school, which they said is still important to those in East Beckley.

“I feel like by us doing this, and people seeing it, and people coming and enjoying themselves, that they’ll want to participate in this again,” said Alvah Hayes, who also attended Piney Oaks Elementary School.

The group celebrated the start of the reunion with a dance at the Country Inns and Suites ballroom on Friday night.