In conjunction with Donald Primary School’s celebrations to mark the school’s 150th anniversary last weekend, students who began their formal education in the Prep Class of 1961, were reunited during an informal lunch at the Donald Hotel on Saturday.

Twenty-two students who were among the forty-nine students who graduated at the end of 1967 to become Form 1 (Year 7) at Donald High School in 1968, came together to reminisce and to swap brief stories about the events that have shaped their respective lives over the ensuing years.

The former students, many who have now reached retirement age, have enjoyed a wide variety of occupations,  joining the ministry, taking on teaching and nursing professions to continue the education cycle, becoming tradesmen such as carpentry, steel fabrication, bricklaying, journalism, health care, bus driving, office management, to name a few.

And all can attribute their early education to the teachers at Donald Primary School.

Prior to Saturday’s lunch, many of the returnees had attended Friday afternoon’s official celebrations and spent that evening in The Big Shed, admiring the many photographs and other memorabilia on display.

Prior to breaking up, the group agreed to come together in no more than 5 years, to maintain the bonds of friendship that have existed since that first day back in 1961, when they became Donald Primary’s Preps and began a journey that has been both fulfilling and rewarding for all concerned.