More than 300 former and current pupils, staff and community members gathered in Mt Somers at the weekend to reminisce, share memories and reconnect as 150 years of education was celebrated.
Attendees had connections with the schools of Mt Somers, Springburn, Alford Forest and Bushside and the existing school, Mt Somers Springburn School.
Among the reunion attendees were generations of families such as those of the Huggins family, and siblings such as the Kalma’s: the eldest Yvonne (now Denham), Tina, Marijke (Sheppard) and John.
Yvonne, 72, said it had been sometime since the four of them were together and the reunion was a good reason to come back to the area they had grown up in.
‘‘It (the reunion) is a great opportunity to look around the area and connect with old friends and have a good catch up” Yvonne said.
Three of the siblings live in Australia: two on the west side and one on the east, and one sister lives in North Canterbury.
Yvonne began her schooling at Springburn School before moving to Mt Somers, then boarding school and teachers college.
Among her favourable memories, she recalled how good the teachers were and building huts out of pine needles.
The headmaster at the school was cricket mad and so every week the school would play cricket, she said.
‘‘It was ok as long as the boys didn’t hog the bat. Though having so much cricket did put me off it,’’ she said.
Sport played a big part in Yvonne’s life with tennis and netball being played which necessitated trips into Ashburton.
Yvonne said they had a great deal of freedom at school and after school, parents trusted their children and everyone in the community knew each other.
The Kalma’s lived next to the school and Yvonne said often she would be walking through the sheep yards to climb over the fence as the school bell was ringing.
John, 61, did two years of his schooling at Mt Somers when he was about seven-years-old.
He remembers how one of the teachers built a frame of a dinosaur and covered it with concrete.
The pupils were allowed to climb on it.
‘‘It was a social time with families getting together out of school,” he said.
Yvonne recalled the large snow fall in 1973 which saw the school closed.
‘‘The snow was about two to three feet deep and then it froze. The army was called in to help.
‘‘We built a temporary bridge across the creek to get the sheep over it.
‘‘The army thought they could drive over the bridge but were too heavy and they ended up saying some Dutch words,” Yvonne said.
During the weekend, current pupils of the school kicked the celebrations off by dressing in period costume, there was a shared lunch, taking part in old-fashioned games and quizzes and hearing from past pupils.
A sculpture, carved by Jim Benfell of Ashburton, depicted five mountains representing the five schools was unveiled.
Along with reminiscing, reunion attendees had the opportunity to tour the school and Staveley and Mt Somers museums.
