Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood like a boulder. While the statement might seem a tad odd, here in the North Kitsap School District, it’s about as true as they come. An 18,400-pound chunk of granite, what’s not to like?

So when the North Kitsap High School Vikings gave the Kingston High School Buccaneers a rock as a “house warming” present of sorts, it was done a with celebration. The Vikings of old, no doubt, would have launched it at the new building before burning the remainder to ashes.

Fortunately, times have changed for the better.

The new addition to Kingston is a fine one indeed, showing that its neighbor to the south at North (sorry, that was too good to pass up) is more than willing to velkommen them to the area where Vikings have ruled for decades.

It’s quite a gesture, and one the folks at both schools should not soon forget. Fortunately, it’ll be pretty difficult to ignore.

While the rock is just that, it also represents the very real sense of school pride here in the NKSD. A pride that is too big for one high school and has spread to another with a true fervor.

The granite has already become a student canvass, as school officials agree, it was always meant to be. Painted proudly with the Buccaneers’ school colors.

NKHS has its rock, now KHS has its own.

The boulders will be painted and repainted for years to come. After we’re all dead and gone, they’ll remain. That is the beauty of this simple present. Whether planned or not, the gift will stand as a testament to the permanent bond between the two schools for eons to come, a monument to a pride in community that is as solid as it gets.