Guests were welcomed with a waiata. Photo / Supplied
Guests were welcomed with a waiata. Photo / Supplied
Former students from as long ago as the 1940s were in attendance as Pongaroa School celebrated its 125th year.
From left: Jocelyn Wright (nee Berry), Delwyn Baker (nee Herbert), Raewyn Harris (nee Herbert) came along to help celebrate the Jubilee. Photo / Supplied
A spokesperson for the school said the event held last week had to be scaled back due to restrictions being in place at the time of planning.
Pongaroa School was built in 1897 but a search through articles on Papers Past showed the school appeared to have some trouble getting there.
An article in a March 1896 issue of the Woodville Examiner noted that there didn't seem to be any likelihood of a school being built because "some of the intended scholars are too old to count in for a grant".
Construction was completed in May 1897 but the school opening was apparently delayed until November 1897 when the teacher finally arrived.
The building where the school initially stood still stands, although the school is now elsewhere in the township.
Guests were welcomed to the school with a waiata sung by principal Jo Mahoney and current students and staff.
Former student Wright Broughton, and the youngest student Charlotte Henricksen cut the cake. Photo / Supplied
A student who had started at the school in 1946, Wright Broughton, and the school's youngest student Charlotte Henricksen were invited to cut the 125th jubilee cake.
The school also held the official opening of the school's Jubilee Reflection Garden, which the spokesperson said was a "place to reflect on those that have gone before us and those that are to come after."
Board of Trustees presiding member Erin Henricksen acknowledged those that had helped the school get to its 125th year - past and present staff, board members, students and the wider community for its support.
Denise Ryan, a pupil from 1944, opened the Reflection Garden.
From left: John Bambry, Jim Harold, John Eunson with the carvings in the Jubilee Reflection Garden. Photo / Supplied
Carvings done for the garden were also unveiled and guests and students were invited to plant a native plant in the garden to mark the 125 years.
