17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, January 17, 1913: We had patrons’ day at school this afternoon. Everything went off pretty good. We had quite a few visitors.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
A patron is someone who provides financial support. In 1912, the McEwensville Schools were public schools, so I’m not exactly sure who attended Patron’s Day.
The school often had financial difficulty, so perhaps community members made donations to help ensure that the students got an adequate education.
Thomas Kramm in The History of the McEwensville Schools included highlights from the school board minutes. The 1913 highlight was:
04-13: The Board borrowed money from the Watsontown Bank.
Hopefully, the school’s patrons were very generous. . .
Related previous posts that you might enjoy include:
State of Pennsylvania Responsible for the Provision of Public Education
A Hundred Years Ago 
Well I don’t have any kids but I have heard from many many parents that there is no end to the request for extra payments for all kinds of things..Public schools aren’t fully funded and parents cover a lot of extras here.
Education is so important, it’s good to know that there are people who were motivated to invest in the next generation of citizens. Nowadays it is common for teachers to use their own money to buy supplies for their students.
Frequently there are students at my door selling candy, some trinket for their public school program. I think I would prefer a “Patron Day.”
I know that patrons are customers, like in a hair salon as well, so maybe they meant patrons as in students and parents? Maybe it was an open house of sorts. Great pic!