School’s 150th celebration enjoyed by all
THE 150th reunion celebration for past pupils of the Tapanui District High School (TDHS) was all about remembering friends and reconnecting with old classmates.
Coorganiser Avis Fenton said the two days of celebrations at Tapanui, for which 182 former pupils registered, went off wonderfully.
‘‘By all reports to me people said they had enjoyed themselves immensely,
‘‘We made sure everyone got all the time they needed to sit down and talk rather than filling their days up with other activities,’’ she said.
‘‘It was an amazing event and it all came about when I discovered my 100th centenary name tag in a drawer and thought: when was the 150th due?’’
‘‘When I did the math, I discovered it was 2018, so myself and coordinator Alwyn Stiven said we can’t ignore this occasion, so off we went and were very surprised at the response.’’
At the main function on Saturday afternoon the oldest living pupil Jeaune Rea cut the 150th cake accompanied by Novak Melhuish (5) who had started school at Tapanui Primary school only five days earlier.
Past pupils Oscar Davis and Raewyn Miller, who both attended in the 1960s, said it was very well organised and a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends.
‘‘It was very special for us, as it brought back memories of a favourite teacher, Mr King, whose son came along and made it all memorable,’’ Mrs Miller said.
Neil and Daphne Kirk said they loved the way the celebrations had been organised to allow time to talk to old friends.
Mr Kirk, who attended TDHS in the 1940s and ’50s, said he was glad he had come along and it was great to see the organisers had combined the reunion with the Armistice Day parade and festivities at Tapanui.
Mrs Fenton said Tapanui School was established in 1868.
It became Tapanui District High School in 1902.
It became two schools, Tapanui School and Blue Mountain College, in 1976.