More than six decades on, West School’s class of 1959 paid a visit to their old school in Timaru as part of a long-awaited reunion.
Twenty members of the original class of 30 attended the recent reunion which had been in the works prior to the Covid pandemic.
The average age of those in attendance was 78 and more than half had travelled from outside Timaru to attend, some even making the trip across the ditch to see their old classmates.
West School merged with Timaru Main School in 2005, becoming what is now Bluestone School.
Reunion co-organiser Mary Mitchell said it was extremely special to have been able to hold the reunion.
‘‘A lot of these people haven’t seen each other for 65 years. I think we’re all glad just to still be alive.
‘‘It’s quite incredible that we can get 20 people from 1959 who for the most part haven’t seen each other.
‘‘It’s nice that people made the effort to come and reconnect after all those years.
‘‘We’re extremely grateful to Rebecca [Hamilton], the [Bluestone] deputy principal, and the senior students that came in their holidays to host us. It’s very kind.’’
She said it was quite tricky bringing everyone back together.
‘‘It’s like herding cats.
‘‘It was well organised before Covid. We were going to have it in Wellington and then Covid came along and it just died.
‘‘About a year ago I said I’ll organise it with Rob [Crozier] if he does all the internet stuff — a lot of older people aren’t that great online,’’ she said.
Those who attended reminisced about previous school-time memories such as the horror of visiting the dental nurse or heading to the shop across the street to have a pie on Fridays.
Back then, everyone walked or biked to school and then gathered outside for assembly with a brand-new loudspeaker, sang the national anthem then marched back to class.
‘‘It’s very good for the school community — we love engaging with past pupils.
‘‘We think it’s great for the history of the school and actually for the students to understand this school holds a special place for students current and past.
‘‘I know I speak on behalf of Darren Smith [principal] to just say that he thinks it’s fantastic and we love to embrace things like this.’’
As part of the reunion the group had dinner together on the Friday night prior to visiting the school on the Saturday and then celebrated with a final dinner at the South Canterbury Club.
