General News
28 February, 2025
GOOD OLD SCHOOL DAYS — Wonderful memories
East Maryborough Primary School, commonly known as 2828, was an important cog in the town’s history.
See them marching in the big parade.
There were clowns, witches, footballers, Beatles, acrobats, you name it, they were there.
An enthusiastic crowd attended to cheer them on as they paraded around the yard at East Maryborough Primary School, commonly known as 2828.
This was the annual fancy dress parade.
It was enthusiastically supported by the students, teachers and parents. I can still see the excited faces of the children.
It was a flashback as I drove past what is now the School House Village — a thriving housing precinct.
Fortunately the original building is intact and has been renovated extremely well. The bell tower stands as it always has from its lofty position looking across the town.
The school was an important cog in the town’s history. It served the east side of town.
Some saw it as the school for the working class — an inaccurate and unfortunate assessment.
Alongside the school was the arboretum — a native forest with the remnants of a creek running through it, and the renovated Percydale school building.
Percydale, the relocated school, became a school in its own right.
The children delighted in the establishment of a vegetable garden.
Doug Baxter (Vicrail) dug up the ground, a trotting stable delivered trailer loads of straw and manure. We planted every available vegetable.
To the parents’ disbelief, the kids devoured them. They were made into salads, pasties, vegetable soup, satays, etc. Not a morsel was left.
It was a time when many of the mothers gave freely of their time to make sure the school could service the needs of the students.
A list of ladies such as Audrey Harris, Coral Giles, Marlene Roberts, Anne Stringer, Bev Moyle, Marlene Barby, Glenys Cassidy, Corelle Bilson, Rene Barnes and June Stone, like many other schools, were the “life blood”.
The school canteen provided healthy, cheap and delicious lunches for the children and was serviced by the aforementioned ladies.
On Fridays an old copper was filled and heated by wood from the arboretum.
The tank water was flavoured with some leaves from the magnificent citrus gum, still alive on the grounds.
Orders were taken in the classes and the rolls were the tickets.
The rolls were specially made by Townsing’s Bakery for 15c each and the saveloys delivered by Castlemaine Smallgoods for 35c each (they always gave an extra 20 or so for free).
They sold for $1 each, a profit of 50c.
All this money raised was used to subsidise the school’s excursion program.
Thanks to station-master Reg Carr, special trains transported the kids to the Melbourne Zoo, Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement and Geelong.
Coral Giles, an enthusiastic and popular citizen, gathers those members remaining from the mother’s club at least once a year.
For almost a century the Temperance Club (Rechabites) made awards to the children at an afternoon tea.
One of the mothers was responsible for the punch.
On tasting it she found it tasteless and flavoured it with some “liqueur”.
It was devoured rapidly with several ladies asking where she purchased the cordial.
On two separate occasions the school was evacuated.
On the first occasion a student, with a name almost identical to a Japanese suicide pilot, caused the drama.
On the way to the toilet he passed wind so powerfully that Muriel Gloury (a long time member of staff) instigated the alarm believing it to be a gas leak.
On the second occasion I arrived at the school to find it evacuated. There had been explosions under room one.
All precautions were taken to avoid a major gas leak. The cause wasn’t a leak, but exploding bottles of ginger beer.
Several years earlier grade six had made several crates of the drink from a ginger plant (a living potion) and some of the beer was put under the floor and it exploded.
The Frank Grahame Oval and change sheds were built by parent volunteers. The oval was originally a dam.
Across the road from the oval was the disused tip. It was “rat infested”.
At night it was a moving mass.
The council provided bullets and paid $1 per tail. The rats were soon gone.
Another highlight was the Mother’s Day stall, where children could purchase a present for their mothers at a reasonable price. They featured knitwear, preserves and homemade crafts. Children with limited money were catered for.
The school was a state leader with the Supplementary Grants Program which provided a comprehensive examination of all the children’s dental health and free back-up treatment. I am sure there are many ex-students who are grateful for this service.
At a reunion at the revamped School House Village, the love of their school days was overwhelming.