ORIENT, Iowa — Following a March vote that dissolved the district, Orient-Macksburg Community School held a farewell celebration Saturday in the school’s gym.

The Orient-Macksburg Community School District hosted only 87 kids during its last school year, and some of them wrote their farewells in a play to the district. For those who came before, Saturday was their chance to say goodbye.

Teresa Thompson, an Orient-Macksburg graduate from the class of 1983, said that the celebration was bittersweet.

“I was a student, I was a teacher, I was an administrator. So, I’ve spent lots of years here with lots of people. And so we, those of us that have been at Orient-Macksburg for a long time, and we you know, we raised our children here. We graduated and now our grandchildren. And so it is, it is bittersweet, but we, we don’t want to think today just about what good we’ve done for here and, and move forward from there,” Thompson said.

At the farewell celebration a variety of memorabilia was on display from the school.

Doyle Jensen, an Orient-Macksburg Graduate from the class of 1966, said that the celebration was heart wrenching.

“This is kind of a heart-wrenching moment. You see a lot of old classmates, a lot of people. I have no idea who they are. I’ve been gone that long. But, yeah, it’s, I’m glad the community did this. There’s a good turnout in there. Tight-knit community. So glad we went to school here,” Jensen said.

The Orient-Macksburg School District will officially dissolve July 1st, 2026.