Students in Tabatha Britnell's ninth-grade science class at Athens Bible School review the properties of light. The school will celebrate its 75th anniversary Saturday.

Athens Bible School will celebrate their 75th anniversary Saturday during a ceremony that will include a catered dinner and tours of the campus.

Free campus tours of the school’s current building at 507 Hoffman St. will be offered from 3–4:30 p.m. and are open to the public. Former and current teachers and administrators will be on hand to share school stories and memories with visitors as they pass through.

Reservations for the 5 p.m. dinner can be made through this Friday at www.athensbibleschool.com or by calling 256-232-3525. The cost for each plate is $25.

Immediately following the meal, several alumni will take guests on a walk down memory lane as they share memories dating back to the 1950s.

Scott Hudson, a 1981 graduate of the school, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Hudson is corporate vice president of information technology and chief information officer for Teledyne Inc. in California but lives in Athens on the weekends.

Another alum, Micah Clem, has spent the last month video-interviewing alumni who have graduated from the school during the last seven decades. He will share excerpts from the interviews during the evening program.

“We hope that the video and the memories that our alumni share will give people a full picture of the different things that have happened at our school over the years,” Gayle Hagewood, the school’s assistant director of development, said. “We want to remind people of the how their time at ABS has shaped them and how it continues to shape the lives of our students.”

The night would not be complete without an appearance from Sybil Fudge Dewhirst, the wife of Bennie Lee Fudge, one of the school’s founding members. Once a teacher at the school, Dewhirst has supported ABS through multiple generations. Fittingly, she will turn 95 on the same day the school marks their 75th anniversary.

Lynn Persell, chairman of the ABS board of directors, will round out the evening with an update on construction progress at the school’s new building.

The new facility, located at 610 U.S. 31 N. will be 35–40 percent larger than the current building. Along with a significant increase in square footage, the new land will provide 40 acres of space to build a sports complex in the future.

Original cost projections have increased from around $8 million to an estimated $10 million, but the school has already raised over $6 million toward the project thanks to a combination of generous pledges, two estate gifts and the projected revenue from the sale of the current building.

Hagewood said that their builder, First Team Construction Inc. out of Auburn, have almost completed the groundwork and have begun digging the footers, allowing for the crew to start construction on the building.

“We are still on track and the school should be complete by January of 2019,” she said.