Pinelands High School 50 year reunion

After a quiet restful week Friday eventually dawned and it was time to go back to school. One of the group kindly agreed to pick me up and be my transport to the school and on to the lunch afterwards. I was still very nervous but all went well and I did recognize some of the girls. The guys were a different story. Maybe because when at school they were boys and now they were men with facial hair and some with no hair at all on their heads. They all expected me to still have my two waist length plaits and I was amazed at who remembered me. One guy, can't remember his name, even said,"You lived on The crossing and I lived on the corner." He even knew who my next door neighbour was. Another guy said," You sat in the back row". They all seemed to have better memories than I did but then some did meet at the 40 year reunion which from all accounts was a whole weekend event.

Our first stop was at the school hall foyer where there was a table spread with eats and tea and coffee was served.

Most of us were so busy meeting each other that we never ate at all. Some did have tea or coffee.

Ronnie in the dark jacket was my chauffeur.

Some of the ladies that I remembered because we had seen each other at different times over the years.

It was interesting to see how the uniform had changed although the blazer had remained the same.

Eventually it was time to enter the hall. The principal admitted that this was his most difficult task, getting us to file in after all these years. Some of the learners played the marimbas while the rest of the school stood as we all filled in to take up our seats in the from of the assembly. It was all rather moving especially seeing the youngsters stand so quietly. I am sure we were never that well behaved.

The principal read a section from the school magazine and then told us that although what were heard was very relevant, we would be surprised to note that he had read from the 1964 school magazine. Things have not changed that much in 50 years.

He briefly mentioned inventions and events from the 60's and then showed a video clip that one of our class had taken at school. She had managed to convert it to a DVD so that it could be shown.

One of our class was the keynote speaker and he spoke very well even as he revealed some of the boy's secrets eg. smoking in the forest during breaks. I think that today's learners went away with a good idea of what school life was like 50 years ago and now feel blessed to be part of this very special school.

The school have some very talented pupils and we were entertained with two musical items of a very high standard.

After the Assembly we broke into small groups and were taken on a tour of the school by two learners. There have been some big improvements and I think that the students were rather shocked to learn that we never had computers.

We never had a pool

This too was a new addition

After the tour it was time to head for the restaurant where we were to enjoy a wonderful feast. We had a selection of three starters, three main courses and a dessert platter. (Sorry never took a picture of the other food)

We sat at three tables and the noise was unbelievable as we caught up on 50 years of comings and goings. It was close on 5 pm by the time we got home and we all agreed that 500 years was too long to wait for another reunion. We might manage 5 years. We also said we might need a larger venue for our lunch so it could accommodate our walking frames and wheel chairs. It will be interesting to see the changes after 5 years.