Donald Primary School Grade 6, 1967: Back row, left to-right, Elaine Pearse, Heather Bartlett, Lynette Romeo, Peter Brooks, Virginia Anderson, Rodney McKinnon, Glenda Basset, Lynette Trollop, Lynette Boak. Fifth row: Wayne Burton, David Basset, Chris Broughton, Darryl Bath, Lindsay Perry, Shane O’Shea, Glen Westblade, Ron Weaver. Fourth row: Doug McSwain, Neville Barber, Jenny Adams, Rosemary Goldsmith, James Boyce, Judy Pearse, Rae Cossens, Trevor Hollis, Garry Andison. Third row: Karen Eddy, Wayne Decker, Robert Arnel, Lynette Broughton, Glenda McCallum, Phillip Tonkin, Stephen Bayles, Kerry Vogel, Dick Giles (teacher). Seated: Jenny Raven, Anne Baker, Yvonne Harmer, Joanne Bibby, Louise Shannon, Joy Goldsbury, Dianne Wright, Lesley Leeder, Desley Daykin. Front: Bruce Dunn, Peter Broughton, Geoff Briscoe, David Falla, Stephen Tonkin, Peter Whyte.
Donald Primary School Grade Prep, 1961: Back row, left to right, Stephen Bayles, Nick Pearse, Steven Tonkin, Robert Arnel, Rodney McKinnon, Wayne Burton, Philip Tonkin, Bruce Dunn, Wayne Decker. Third row: Pam Dunn, Glenda Basset, Lynette Trollop, Anne Baker, Judith Pearse, Rosemary Goldsmith, ??, Jenny Adams, Rae Cossens, Kerry Salmon. Second row: Garry Trollop, Sammy James, Shane O’Shea, Stephen Clipple/Craig Rothwell?, David Basset, Neville Barber, Ron Weaver, Peter Broughton, Shane Gallagher. Front: Kerry Vogel, Jenny Romeo, Virginia Anderson, Lexi Billingham, Deree Young, Dianne Wright, Glenda McCallum, Elaine Pearse, Lynette Broughton, Judy Rea.
Former Donald Primary School students who began their formal education as the Prep Class of 1961 and graduated as Grade 6 in 1967, will be reunited as part of the Donald Primary School’s 150th. anniversary celebrations in November.
An informal luncheon has been organised at the Donald Hotel on Saturday, November 16.
The former class mates are also looking forward to taking part in activities at the School on Friday, including the main event in the Big Shed in the evening, and the opportunity to walk through the school on Saturday morning, prior to them being reunited for their own lunch time celebrations.
One of the largest groups of students to make its way through Donald Primary and on to Donald High, thirty-nine students were enrolled as Preps in 1961. By the time the class graduated at the end of 1967, it numbered 49, a far cry from current numbers in similar classes.
Exhaustive attempts have been made to contact all the former students, but if you were a member of this class and know the whereabouts of any former classmates, please pass on the reunion details.
A good number of the former students still live locally, but the call goes out to all their former classmates to come together to celebrate and to share stories of lives well lived.
And the response has been wonderful, with former classmates from as far afield as Queensland in the far north and many parts of Victoria indicating they will be attending.
If you know the whereabouts of any in the accompanying photographs, please make them aware of the Donald Primary School celebrations and the class reunion.
For further information and for catering purposes, please contact Shane O’Shea (0408086504) ASAP if you are attending.
