BILLED as the final reunion, former Inglewood Higher Elementary School students and teachers were out in force on Saturday.
Organisers Helen Leach and Jill Hobbs had spread the word and more than 100 came.
Among them was former teacher Betty Higgs, of Arnold West. Now 97, the oldest at the reunion, Betty taught at the school for nine years from 1967.
Lesley Addlem was in her final year at Inglewood Higher Elementary when Betty arrived as a teacher.
Growing up on a farm at Powlett, Lesley was enrolled at the school as a four-year-old and finished Form 4 (now Year 10) before setting off to discover the world.
She timed her biennial return to Australia to coincide with the reunion.
“Jill had given me the heads up that the reunion was being planned,” said Lesley who has lived in Newport, Rhode Island, for almost 40 years.
Lesley’s world travels took her to Africa and then two years living in Italy.
“Flew into Quebec, Canada to see a friend, took a bus down to Rhode Island ... caught up with another friend, was introduced to my late husband and stayed,” she said.
Lesley said she had travelled extensively with her late husband who had been a sonar expert.
And while there’s a few travel adventures in Australia during her latest visit back, Lesley already has more trips planned to Europe.
It’s far away from the Inglewood school days that Lesley said had great memories of “everyone playing sport, we knew students in other schools up as far as Mitiamo and Pyramid Hill”.
“For me the classroom wasn’t fun but recess was,” Lesley said. “We were typical country kids.”
Inglewood Higher Elementary School reverted to offering primary year classes from the 1970s and old class photographs were talking points at the reunion.
Members of the primary school parents’ association catered for the reunion, raising funds to help current school activities.