SACO — It was Jack Colpitts’ senior year at Thornton Academy, 1953. He was a  sports enthusiast who played baseball, basketball and football ”“ and it was football season.

In this part of York County, football season means one thing: That fierce rivalry between the high school teams in the two cities on the Saco River. Thornton Academy Trojans meet the Biddeford Tigers annually in the Battle of the Bridge.

“We beat Biddeford 53-7 that year” said Colpitts.

Colpitts was chatting with Bob Hooper, ’54, in the lobby area of Linnell Gym Saturday. Colpitts, who lives in town, and Hooper of Falmouth, were among hundreds of alumni and others who stopped by for the school’s Founding Day ceremonies.

This year marks Thornton Academy’s bicentennial. Founding Day, topped off with fireworks and a bonfire Saturday evening, marks the first of four events to commemorate that pivotal year. Saturday’s festivities included ice skating, cross country skiing, horse drawn wagon rides, an ice sculpture contest and a community supper.

Most people in the area know Thornton Academy is the private high school that serves as the public high school in Saco. In latter years, the school has acquired an international flavor, and currently counts individuals from 13 countries among its students, said Thornton Academy Board President Eric Purvis, ’81, at Founding Day ceremonies.

Stacey Fulton, ’92, admiring the horses that obligingly led wagon loads of adults and children around the campus Saturday, marveled at the changes since she attended classes here.

“It is nice to see the school growing with the population,” said Fulton. She said what used to be the library when she was a student is now an art room. “The only thing that’s the same is the gym.”

Phil Fearon, ’70, a member of the board of trustees, was selling TA sweatshirts in the lobby of Linnell Gym with his son, Josh Fearon, ’98, who is on the Alumni Board.

“It is awesome to see how the school has changed,” said the elder Fearon, adding that he finds it “exciting” to have foreign students on campus. He said the school’s expansion brings the ability to add more advanced placement courses.

Ceremonies included selections from the Bicentennial Choir and the Thornton Academy Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band, along with videos that outlined the history of the school and a few words from the eldest alumnus, Marion ”˜May’ Howard Dennis, who graduated in 1927.

Dennis was a keen pianist.

“I played piano for (Thornton Academy) events, for everything they had,” she said in an interview taped for viewing Saturday.

Her mother was a weaver in the York Mill, Dennis said. She wanted her daughter to go to college, but Dennis, the valedictorian of her class, knew that if she went to work instead her family could use the money, so she joined her mother in the mill. The two would walk to work in the winter with baked potatoes in their pockets to ward off the chilly air, she said.

Thornton Academy was founded in February 1811, when Maine was still a province of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In a video production, historian Fred Clark, ’46,  explained that by 1791, the age of academies had come to Maine and 37 Saco residents decided it was time for an academy here. They petitioned the Massachusetts Legislature for an academy to teach “science, literature and morals” and with the signed bill in hand, set about to build a school.

TA’s Cathy Coffman said petitioners were required to raise $3,000 for the academy and if they could raise the money the Massachusetts Legislature promised to give the fledgling academy a half-township in northern Maine for an endowment.

They raised the money.

On Jan. 4, 1813 the first Thornton Academy building was dedicated and opened. It measured 42 feet by 30 feet. Tuition was $12 per year.

In 1889, Thornton Academy began serving as the high school for Saco students.

Purvis, addressing the audience at Founding Day, noted the school’s rich history. The victory bell continues to be rung and homecoming weekend continues to bring alumni home, he pointed out.

“These are the ties that bind” he said.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.