Welcoming classmates from '65

An emotional visit to Euroa Cemetery capped off a rich and joyful weekend for the class of 1965 on the weekend of 15-16 November. If you add to that the fact that one of the 'gang' now wants to move back to Euroa, this unique cohort of students from Euroa Secondary College (then Euroa High) might be possibly the most unique bunch of old scholars if records of reunion efforts were ever kept. Organiser Helen Sefton said the Sunday visit to the cemetery was organized by local Kevin McFarlane and was important to the group as it recognized those who had passed away but who were remembered from 60 years ago. “We placed rosemary on their graves,” Ms Sefton said. “That was for remembrance.” The reunion began on the steps of Euroa’s Post Office on Saturday morning where nineteen former students of the two classes met before a long catchup over coffee. “That really was the best because it was greeting each other for the first time in some cases,” Ms Sefton said. The group then sauntered to the markets with most of them choosing to have lunch in Lions Park. Ms Sefton said the school tour that followed was ‘excellent’. “There was a lot of reminiscing and it’s interesting that although the footprint of the school has grown, the population of students is about the same.” “We were all very impressed with (current principal) Anna Eddy and Brett Williams who conducted the tour.” Uniforms were donated to the school for display. The Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend, with a rolling slideshow of over 130 pictures entertaining the event’s 41 guests along with a 22-verse poem written by Dave Donehue. The poem covered more sentimental memories than expected, reminiscing on the local theatre’s cheaper prices (‘and no surround sound’) and The Sound of Music, the Beatles and Tom Jones, TV’s Thunderbirds and Gidget, and early Holdens and Malvern Star bikes. Four days afterwards and Gayle Elgin (nee Brown) could not stop talking about the reunion. "The spouses really enjoyed themselves as well - almost everyone knew each other anyway," Gayle said, having moved recently back to Euroa after living in Perth for 47 years. "It's funny, I think you remember more people from primary school because that's the age where you start making your contacts and memories. "We had name tags but really, everybody knew each other. "The cemetery was quite emotional I guess - realising that many of our classmates were there." Gayle praised the efforts of Kevin McFarlane as well as Helen Sefton, the latter who 'the gang' started referring to as Mother Superior ‘after a few vodkas’ and who was presented with a pen made of hand-turned wood from a tree that grew on the school site. The class of '65 now launches into the future with its first WhatsApp group and, according to Ms Sefton, something a bit more solid is planned for one former student, such was the love and comradery shared. “One lass is thinking of moving back from Queensland so I have got to keep an eye on the real estate,” she said.