60th birthday for Greytown Kindergarten

Office admin Andrea Mitchell, teachers Diane Meenken and Jenny Hansen, acting head Marion Mailman, teacher Denise Stone and former pupils gathered to celebrate the jubilee. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Greytown Kindergarten celebrated its 60th birthday jubilee on Friday and Saturday bringing past and present pupils together for a reunion.

Greytown Kindergarten teacher Jenny Hansen, who was also a Greytown kindergarten pupil, said teachers and administrators had been working for months to bring the event together.

"Last year, mysteriously a scrapbook was left here at the kindergarten," she said. "And in it were newspaper articles, photos, and reports about the opening of the kindergarten and what took place to plan the kindy and the fundraising effort that the community got behind.

"It was amazing because you know, in six weeks they raised 2000 pounds to get the kindergarten established. They did a lot of amazing fundraising."

Scans of these historical documents were arranged on panels at the Greytown Town Hall where past pupils could browse through class photos, mingle, and reminisce on their time at the kindy.

South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples unveiled the new edition to the exterior of the kindergarten's whare to celebrate the kindergraten's jubilee, which was blessed by a kaumatua.

The jubilee cake was cut at the Town Hall by Isobel Garrity, a foundation teacher in 1955 who was formerly Miss Marshall, and 4-year-old present-day kindergarten pupil Kingston Fairbrother, of a fourth generation Greytown family.