2009 Reunion

Saturday 15 August 2009 & Sunday 16 August 2009

What a great weekend for all those who attended the reunion! About 70 people turned up at the school on Saturday afternoon for the tour conducted by Mick Eller, the Principal. Most were unsure who those old people around them were but we soon made introductions and the reminiscing began. Mick told us how the school has grown, not the student numbers perhaps but the number of buildings. We had refreshments in the library and Mick had a number of old magazines and other items for our perusal.

Saturday night started interestingly, the organisers arrived at 5.30 to get ready for a 6.00 start and found about 20 people already there, ready and raring to go. The final number attending was 155 as there were some late withdrawals due to ill health. After the initial scramble of getting the name tags out, the inevitable questions began; "Where are you now?", "What have you been doing?", "Do you remember............?", "What ever happened to.........?". Background music from the late 50's/early 60's was playing but few heard it as it was drowned out by the buzz of conversation.

A great meal was prepared by Kym Holdt, son of our late schoolfriend Neville. The meal was followed by speeches from past Captains, Marie Sergent and Ian Williams. A short silence was observed to remember those who are no longer with us after which Marilyn Shaw led the assembled group with a rousing rendition of the school song. Even the bar staff joined in the song. Closing time was a total surprise as all seemed to have lost track of time and were so busy chatting.

The fellowship continued on Sunday at South West Rocks when around 70 turned up and the conversation continued. A number of photos have been taken and, hopefully, we will be able to get these and put a good sample on the website for your enjoyment.

Well, the final accounting has been done and you'll all be pleased to know that there were funds left over. You have donated $180.00 to Kempsey High School to be used at the discretion of the Principal, Mick Eller and a further $135.00 has been used to purchase necessary equipment to be donated to the First Kempsey Scouts who allowed us the use of postal facilities.

The organising committee was Gerry Beatty, Charlie Cameron, Mary Cameron (Timmins), Dot Everson (McDonald) and Lew Wilcox. We would like to thank all those who attended and who were the reason that the weekend will be so memorable.