Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - Animated Student Life
179 When it came to celebrations, the school in Sárospatak was again at the forefront. The first Alumni reunion was in 1891 when former students who had graduated thirty years previously gathered to commemorate the occasion. The same year, the centenary of decree number 1791/26, as well as the 300th anniversary of Comenius’s birth, were celebrated, the latter in a very low key manner. Two years later, another more modest celebration took place to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Academy of Law. Conceptual considerations preempted the organization of a noisy celebration and, instead, there was concentration on a literary mode of expression for the occasion. The worsening problems at the Academy of Law and the cholera outbreak at the beginning of the school year were further reasons for the modest celebration. The deaths of Lajos Kossuth and Baron Miklós Vay were also important events to be marked in this same year, events for which it was necessary to prepare mentally and to be found wanting in demonstrating generous hospitality. The people of Patak contributed to and participated in the Millennium celebrations in a proportion befitting them. At the national exhibition, Patak was able to exhibit schoolbooks, student essays and various work produced by teachers. It sent a team to the national gymnastics competition and, on the fourth of June, students travelled to the capital to see the Hungarian crown on exhibition in the Matthias Church. One hundred twenty students of the secondary school were given money and permission by their parents to view the millennial exhibition. The Kazinczy celebrations, however, represented a constant source of a recurring problem. The Academy organized a competition each year and the winner was to be announced during the celebrations in Széphalom. Based on contemporary descriptions, it seems that the College participated only halfheartedly because of practical hindrances, namely, that it was rather difficult to get all the students to Széphalom. The unfavourable travel conditions and weather and the poor condition of buildings in Széphalom all reduced the sheen, charm and drawing power of the celebrations. Added to this was the fact that the secondary school of Újhely stayed away, too, as it generally did, and so did the county officials. It also happened at times that there was no one to participate in the competition, which seemed reason enough for the event to be cancelled. Sizing up the situation, the Hungarian Academy issued strict instructions that celebrations must be held even if there are no competitors. The leaders of Patak requested several times - but in vain it appears - that the memorial celebration site be moved to a more worthy place: to Patak. From the turn of the century onwards, an ever-increasing number of entries could be read in the school’s regular bulletins about the broadening of the school’s national and international network. Thus, for example, a note in the bulletin was pleased to announce that, in 1895, the principal and the subprefect of Zemplén county visited the school. At that time, study tours were not organized for the sole purpose of providing exercise; they were organized with specific educational purposes in mind. For example, the students visited the Felvidék, (Highlands), the sugar factories in Hatvan and Szerencs, the brewery in Kőbánya and a farming school injászberény; a group of six students represented the school at the Theological Congress in Pápa; the college teachers and students from Debrecen and Nagyenyed paid a visit to Sárospatak. The president of the examination committee for the final secondary school examinations in 1910 was
