IT’S been 71 years since a photo of 61 students was taken at Red Cliffs Primary School and, remarkably, most of them still catch up.
Since the camera shutter clicked, the Grade 3 class of 1953 has had a special bond, having reunited four times in the past 30 years to celebrate their lives and enduring friendships.
Class member Brian Hengsen said the catalyst for the catch-ups was when his classmate Ken Mustey called around one day in 1993 and showed him the old class photo.
“We just sort of got talking about it, because a lot of these people are still local but most of them are dispersed all over Australia,” Mr Hengsen said.
Noting that they would all turn the age of 50 the following year, a committee of classmates including Julie Warne, Glad Chapman, Sandy Beggs, Kevin Johns, Mr Hengsen and Mr Mustey formed to arrange a reunion.
“We got together – it took us a year to track down how many we tracked down,” Mr Hengsen said.
The 1994 reunion was a big success, as 29 former pupils travelled to Red Cliffs to attend the catch-up, some from as far away as Canada.
Another reunion was held in 2014 as the group approached the age of 70, and 21 of the Grade 3 classmates made the effort to reunite.
The group met again for an impromptu catch-up for the Red Cliffs centenary in 2022, and finally came together once more this year, to acknowledge their 80th birthdays.
A total of 15 pupils attended the 2024 catch-up, the furthest away from Perth.
Contacting all of their classmates continues to be a significant undertaking for the committee, and 11 of the students have proved to be untraceable.
“In that era, there was a lot of itinerant-type kids,” Mr Hengsen said.
“Their parents worked for the railways or the Water Commission or banks. They were sort of here one minute and gone the next.”
Mr Hengsen expressed his fondness for the reunions and for the enduring enthusiasm many of his classmates had to stay close.
“It’s fantastic, actually. Most of us stay in touch with each other,” he said.
“There’s one bloke I call my twin brother (Alan Lauder).
“We were born on the same day, in the same hospital, and we’ve been mates since the day we were born.”
Mr Hensgen had a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why people came together from far and wide to reminisce about a singular photo from, of all years, Grade 3.
“We haven’t got a photo of Grade 1, or 2, or 4, or 5,” he said. “Only 3.”
