Schoolyard friendships were reignited more than six decades after they began on the Parklands School playground with a 1963 class reunion last month.
The event brought together 24 Parklands classmates, who are now all aged about 75. The group was split across three composite classes while at school – the students were about 13 years old in 1963.
People travelled from across New Zealand, and even from Australia, to attend the reunion, which was organised by classmate Shirley Lane.
Shirley has good reason to have fond memories of Parklands – her husband Barry also appears in the 1963 class pictures and was at her side for the event.
This was the second time the group has come together. The Guardian reported on their first reunion in 2016, which was attended by 37 people, including partners.
“I loved primary school, so that’s why, 10 years ago, I decided to have a Form Two reunion,” says Shirley, who now lives in Rotorua. “We’re all getting older, so it means a lot.”
Tracking down some classmates proved challenging, with many having long since lost contact. Shirley says the puzzle slowly came together by asking each new link if they knew how to reach others. She plans to continue adding to her list ahead of the next reunion, pencilled in for 2031.
Another outcome of the reunion, she says, has been reconnecting the wider group with people who were unable to attend this time, rekindling old friendships even from afar.
The group met at Toad Hall on Saturday, 21 March, before gathering at the Waterfront by Toad Hall in Kaiteriteri the following day.
Pam Wakefield, one of six attendees who still lives locally, says it was an “absolutely great weekend, with lots of chatter”. She says much of the time was spent reminiscing about school days and catching up on life since.
School life has changed, Pam notes. The biggest trip her class ever took was a bus ride to Kaiteriteri, but the Parklands bike shed still stands in the same spot. She says it is gratifying to see it filled with children’s bikes, just as it was in her day.
