What a difference sixty years makes

Zip back in time exactly 60 years and you will step into a world then grappling with the arrival of the hippie movement, an unwanted conflict in southeast Asia, the Beatles about to launch Rubber Soul, and Normie Rowe topping the pops with Que Sera Sera and Shaking All Over.

Binney Street was then graced by three of the four big banks – not just one like now – and Burton’s would be flourishing of course (yet to be an IGA).

Council was in a fury this same week as it lambasted the ‘very notion’ of building a Ned Kelly monument (warming instead to £100 for a plaque on the old bank site).

In 1965, the Anderson Street overpass was five years old, and the London plane trees, late of that same street, would have been at full height even then.

Local cricketer Ray McLaine was captaining a Country XI to take on - incredibly - England’s touring Ashes side in a friendly at the Memorial, and a massive Angus bull called Ardroy Jovial Eric won Supreme Champion at the Euroa Show.

Wander down to Campbell Street and there the senior school stands, only in its ninth year since establishment and with its original name.

And completing their first year at Euroa High School were 54 local students, many of whom had started their education in Strathbogie, Violet Town, Longwood, and Boho South.

Snap your fingers and it’s 2025 again, and if you are among the (only) four former students that have not been contacted by local Helen Sefton and her group, then hightail it to Euroa this Saturday evening for the class of 1965’s reunion.

Ms Sefton said that because of the centrality of Euroa, several old scholars had returned to the shire, despite four out of five of them moving away after graduation.

“One fifth stayed and worked in the area,” Ms Sefton said.

“Some have returned, mainly to be closer to family.”

This is the cohort’s third reunion – slapping backs and moistening eyes in both 1995 and 2007 – and looks to be a big one if the distances being travelled is an indicator.

“Some of the past students are coming from New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, and even New Zealand,” Ms Sefton said.

The weekend of activities begins at the Euroa Post Office at 10am on Saturday 15 November, leading to morning coffee, a tour of the school in the afternoon, and dinner at The Temple that evening.

Sunday will feature a visit to the cemetery, followed by a brunch and more time to chat.

Per ardua ad astra