NIU VALLEY — Fifty years ago, Niu Valley Middle School sat at the road's end, an intermediate school built to accommodate future growth.

At the time there was no Hawai'i Kai, just farms. Lani Moo, the symbol of Meadow Gold Dairies, was kept in a pen near where the Niu Valley Shopping Center is today.

These are the kinds of stories that will be told at the bash for Niu Valley Middle School's 50th birthday, 4 to 8 p.m. Oct. 21.

Harry B. Soria, a KINE radio disc jockey who has made a career of playing old Hawaiian music, will emcee the event. He'll also talk about Niu Valley as it was those many years ago.

Back then, the school was at the end of the paved road, Halema'uma'u Street, which didn't yet curve around to the east side of the valley. Back then, there were pig farmers, flower farmers and a dairy farm to the east of the school.

Students attending Niu Valley then came from the tony area of Portlock or from the farms.

"We were drawing students from the farms," recalled Steve Gold, owner of School Kine Cookies, a Hawai'i-based firm. "Those kids were country kids from the school of hard knocks."

What's more, at that time teachers readily meted out corporal punishment for infractions, Gold said. He remembers eating a mouthful of sawdust for talking when the shop teacher entered the classroom and the students were all supposed to be silent.

Soria agreed that it was an interesting time to be in public school. There was a clash of cultures between the farm kids and the students from the emerging middle class community of 'Aina Haina, Soria said.

But today, that reputation doesn't hold true, said John Flynn, school principal.

"Our reputation precedes the school," Flynn said. "It doesn't match what is happening today. We're not perfect, but we're not the school everyone recalls."

Amy Hamme, a parent and Friends of Niu Valley co-chairwoman, said the goal of the birthday party is to get the community and the parents together to show support for Niu Valley.

"In middle school, there's not as much support from the parents and community as in elementary school," Hamme said. "Hopefully, it will give the students some pride in their school.

"And the students get to show off their school and have a big, important event."

The birthday celebration is an attempt to draw in the community and showcase the school's talents, Flynn said.

There will be Hawaiian music and food, the debut of a newly formed teen-girl band called XYZ, a minishow with the school's drama department, and displays of student artwork and practical arts. The school's band will perform with the Royal Hawaiian Band, Flynn said.

The school even plans to have an Elvis look-alike on campus and a DVD slide show of images from the 1950s and 1960s, he said.

But the school is short on physical memorabilia from its history. So it's seeking alumni and former teachers who are willing to share pictures, yearbooks and stories with the school, Flynn said.

"By celebrating our history, we'll be able to bring things full circle to our present," Flynn said. "But we need a bigger list of alumni, obviously."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.