In the 1960s, the country's anti-military sentiment caused enrollment to plummet, and the trustees voted to demilitarize, but it wasn't enough. Manlius had approached DeWitt's Pebble Hill School once before to merge and were rebuffed. But, as our Katie Gibas tells us in the second part of this Your Hometown story, a tough decision ultimately saved both schools.

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In 1969, the Manlius School knew their time was limited and began merger talks with DeWitt's Pebble Hill School. Pebble Hill was founded in 1927 as a college prep school for boys.

"When the Manlius School first came to us, we didn't think it was a very good fit," said Chuckie Holstein, a Former Pebble Hill Board of Trustees Vice Chair.

"Pebble Hill was much smaller than Manlius was. They would graduate classes as small as one or two. What Pebble Hill's challenge was was that they were losing kids to boarding schools. And that was the attraction of Manlius that they could combine and have some of the resources to keep the upper school students," explained Tina Morgan, the Manlius Pebble Hill Advancement Director.

John Marsellus, a Former Pebble Hill Board of Trustees Member and Former Student added, "You had to get over the hurdle of deciding that you would pursue the merger. Once we decided that, we then had to say what are the alternatives and how are we going to make it work. Pebble Hill, like so many companies and families and businesses went through life cycles and there were times it needed a stimulus package or a bailout. When the merger happened, that was another life cycle that needed to be addressed."

"I think it was one of the hardest decisions the school had to make at that particular time," said Holstein.

In 1970, the schools merged to form The Manlius Pebble Hill School. The lower school stayed on the DeWitt Campus. And the Manlius campus was turned into a upper level boarding school for both girls and boys. But, the maintenance of the Manlius campus became too much and closed in April of 1973. Everything was consolidated on the DeWitt campus.

"We still had a problem in recruiting. A lot of the community didn't quite understand the merger. And some people thought we were becoming a military academy, we being Pebble Hill. Some people thought the military academy was still in existence because the campus was still there. And so there was a lot of misunderstanding," said Holstein.

After six years on the market, in 1979, the Manlius campus was sold to real estate developer Longley Jones who turned the school into apartments and townhomes. Over the years, staples from the Manlius campus, including the World War I cannon monument, the historic flag pole and other memorabilia were moved to DeWitt. And despite the years of hardship and what felt like betrayal to many, Manlius Pebble Hill now thrives as a living legacy of both schools.

"It saved all of the legacy. If that had not happened, I don't think I'd be here today looking around. There wouldn't be a conduit, a segway for all of us has-beens to enjoy memories and nostalgia," said Bill Rezak, who attended The Manlius School from 1958-1959.

Manlius Pebble Hill continues traditions started at both schools including the Windmill Literary Magazine from Manlius and the Rolling Stone Quarterly Magazine from Pebble Hill. And the Manlius Motto will be a part of MPH.

"They meld and become so much of who we are. The motto "Manners makyth man," was the Manlius School motto and that continues to be the motto today," said Scott Wiggins, the Manlius Pebble Hill Head of School.

Zain Nizam, a Manlius Pebble Hill Senior added, "It's still instilled in me, and I'm graduating in 2013. And I'm sure it was instilled in every single person of every single graduating year. The merging of those two created this very unique culture that we have now."

While at the time, closing the Manlius School and merging with Pebble Hill might have felt like a loss of both of those individual identities, it was that decision that ultimately saved both schools, preserved their histories, and forging a joint future with an indistinguishable legacy.

Extended Video Coverage:

Bill Rezak-Alumnus

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David Rezak-Alumnus

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John Marsellus-Former Board Member

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Chuckie Holstein-Former Board Member

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