Prior to this year's reunion a member emailed asking if it would be possible to have a special reunion to celebrate 30 years since the school's closure. At the time I thought that no Wenningtonian would ever want to celebrate the school's demise, but thought instead that it would be a good idea to celebrate the fact that the Association has survived thirty years since the school closed in 1975. It was not possible to organise anything 'special' so in the last newsletter I said that every reunion is special and those who attend make it so.
This 30th year was no exception - in fact over the past two years attendance has increased, with people who had not attended since leaving school taking the plunge - for some quite an awesome experience, meeting people after nearly fifty years!
For those who are still trying to pluck up courage here are a couple of comments on the weekend.
"I just thought I'd drop you a line to say how much I enjoyed the reunion - after the initial walk through the door! It's hard when you've not been for a number of years to take the plunge, but everyone made you feel welcome and part of it all. I shall certainly come again! We stayed longer than intended and enjoyed Paddy's presentation" - Margot (Walton) Smeaton
and this from our Thorner resident landlady who puts people up overnight providing you are willing to sleep on the floor or in a tent in her field.
"After the evening meal on Saturday Paddy Butcher gave us a good overview of his work in Banda Aceh for Oxfam earlier this year. Photographs helped - projected onto the wall after some bother with a computer with a mind of its own. We finally switched off the girls' dorm light at towards 1am. Breakfast on Sunday lasted until 11.15am and we did a local walk - seeing as far as the Kilburn White Horse nearly 40 miles away. Nine of us shared a lunch of leftovers from the previous evening meal - very much appreciated". - Belinda Swift
So to all those who would like to come but are fearful of doing so - it is nowhere near as painful as going to the dentist! See you next year!