Memories of school days at Hampstead were recalled with fondness recently when the class of 1965 held its reunion.
The former Hampstead School pupils agreed to meet when they were 50, 60 and 70, organiser Sheena Clark said.
‘‘Now we are all in our 70s, we have decided to meet again in five years.’’
Reunion attendees came from Ashburton but also from around New Zealand and Australia.
There were 52 pupils in the two-teacher class – a class-anda-half is how it was described. Since 1965 eight of the former pupils have died.
The reunion was attended by 27 former pupils.
‘‘We had a great time and recalled many happy memories and had lots of laughs. It was so much fun,’’ Clark said.
‘‘We were fortunate that Claudine Campbell, the principal of Hampstead School showed us around the school. There have been many changes since we were there including the special needs unit and the new car park.’’
After the tour of the school, the reunion attendees had drinks and nibbles followed by a dinner.
At each of the reunions, the former pupils make a donation to the school. The previous donation was a magnolia tree, this time it was food for a staff morning tea. ‘‘Everyone is involved with organising the reunions. Many keep in touch between the reunions,’’ Clark said. ‘‘ Those who couldn’t attend for a variety of reasons were disappointed in missing catching up,’’ she said.
