The jubilee joy and school sadness

In 1876 Patrick McCarthy moved on to a piece of land in a district that is now known as Hurleyville.

And on a drizzly afternoon 141 years later two of his descendants gazed over that plot, still recognisable by its macrocarpa trees and gully.

The pair were there for the Hurleyville School and District’s 125th Jubilee.

They, along with many others, shared stories of the past.

‘‘They stood and told stories,’’ said Jacq Dwyer who is writing the jubilee book. ‘‘It brought it all to life,’’

The jubilee was not only a celebration of the 125 years the school had stood strong, but also a tribute to the closure of the school, and an unveiling of a WWI honours board.

Bruce Fowlie, the chairman of the Hurleyville School and District’s 125 Jubilee Committee, said the event was ‘‘bloody awesome’’.

‘‘It was an absolute roaring success. The people that didn’t come certainly missed out.’’

Fowlie said once the word of the closing of the school got out the registrations came in a ‘‘good strong rush’’.

The school looked just the same as it did on its final day with students on December 19.

‘‘Part of the agreement of the school closing was that we wanted the school left how it was, like the kids had just walked out of it, until after the jubilee,’’ Fowlie said.

Despite the common feeling of sadness about the school’s closure, the jubilee crowd was filled with entertaining speakers and guests alike.

The oldest-known living expupil, Trevor Scown, 93, spoke alongside Sarah Coard, who was the last teacher at the school, and Bridget Hurley, who was the last Hurley at the school.

Hurleyville never had a WWI roll of honour board so Dwyer did her research. The resulting board was unveiled by Chester Borrows and Catherine Koubaridis, a descendant of one named on the honours board.

Dwyer said that although the weather was a bit of a downfall, it helped with history too.

‘‘Because of the rain we had to move into the old school building, and that was built in 1892 the same year the school opened, so it was quite nice that they were back in the school getting their old photos taken,’’ she said.

The book will be available in July from Dwyer on 0272415595.

KEVIN BONE Trevor Scown, 93, is the oldestknown ex-pupil of Hurleyville School and his great-great niece Georgia Scown, 4, would have been the youngest.