In excess of 60 past staff members and partners of Nagle College (including a few long-term current staff), gathered in Bairnsdale on the King’s Birthday long weekend to renew their connection with colleagues from years ago.
Attendees’ years of service to Nagle went back as far as the 1970s and through to the 2000s, although there were some who are still in service at Nagle but who were connected to those early years as well.
The organising committee of Kay Brazier (Coverdale), Frank Brown-Graham, Anne Clack and Angie Bandiera started planning months ago, and despite the difficulties of tracking down long-lost contacts, were exceptionally gratified by the depth and spread of responses received.
In addition to the 60+ attendees, in excess of 40 apologies were received from people who were unable to attend for a variety of reasons.
The activities started with a tour of the college on Saturday afternoon, conducted by two current long-term staff, Sally Bailey and Wilma Collier.
Almost 50 people were able to attend the tour, some of whom had not been to Nagle for 40 years.
Needless to say, amazement was expressed by all as to the degree of change and development that had occurred and is still taking place.
“It was interesting to hear the recollections of some of those involved in Nagle’s early days, some of whom had served as teachers when the college was on its original site of what is now Woolworths Supermarket,” Frank Brown-Graham said.
Despite the threatening weather forecast, the tour concluded in the library where a comprehensive archival collection of Nagle history over the years was on display and avidly perused by all.
The main event of the reunion was conducted at The Wy Yung Pub where all gathered for a communal dinner and endless conversation with old friends, one of whom had not been back to Bairnsdale for as long as 23 years.
“For those who were not connected to the early years, it was wonderful to hear the stories from those times and equally interesting for the old-timers to hear anecdotes from more recent years,” Frank said.
“As was evidenced by the buzz of conversation throughout the evening, all agreed that the opportunity to catch up on old friends’ lives and current family events was a highlight of the weekend.
“Another highlight was the singing of the original, the more recent, and the current Nagle songs, the first of which was a hilarious rendition conducted by a few of the oldies from that time, capably led by (the tone-deaf) Geoff Neeson.
“Bob Latimer (one of the long-termers) made a warmly received speech of appreciation to the organising committee and in doing so gave some insights into the early days of leadership and development of the college.
“Before departure, attendees were given a comprehensive list of local hospitality venues open over the weekend, in the hope that some would avail themselves of the opportunity to continue the fun into the Sunday, and many did so.”
Many expressed that given it had been so long for such an event to occur, it would be good to have one more regularly.
The organisers agreed and took note of that sentiment with a degree of apprehension.
“Well done to all involved, especially to all those people who made the effort to attend and renew those special collegial friendships,” Frank said.
