On Saturday, Cootamundra High School's class of 1956 had their 10th and final reunion at the Country Club.
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Cootamundra-Gundagai mayor Abb McAlister welcomed 10 former students and their partners to the reunion, an excellent roll-up considering the original class was only 20 in number, and all but one of them (Robert Jung) moved out of Cootamundra after school.
The organiser, Monica Jacomb, says the class having a "last hurrah" was a natural development from the fact that some of the former students and their partners have passed away, while most have turned 80 can't travel as easily as they used to.
Mrs Jacomb, nee Duff of Hillcrest, has lived in Melbourne since her marriage in 1962, and organised the first reunion in 1981.
Others organised subsequent reunions, including a three-day "big bash" in 2006 - but Mrs Jacomb took the reins for the last get-together.
After the mayor's welcome, Don Walkom, school captain in 1956, gave a tribute to his fellow captain, Fay Rowe (Collingridge) who is now in Canberra and not expected to live much longer.
For its first six years, Cootamundra High was in Cooper Street, and the class of '56 did their whole five secondary years at Cooper Street.
Mr Walkom said Fay Rowe had the distinction of doing all her education, from kindergarten to Leaving Certificate, at Cooper Street.
The group then sat around and talked for most of the afternoon and later in the evening, a table of eight gathered at the Rusty Tables restaurant.
Mrs Jacomb said most teachers at the school went on to become principals, and one of them, Roderick West, became one of Australia's top educators, appointed by the Howard government to head a review of Australia's universities.
As 1956 was the year of the Melbourne Olympics, Mr West ran a mile carrying the Olympic torch along one of the trunk roads, which were later named the Olympic Way and is now known as the Olympic Highway.
At the end of 1956 the class banded together and purchased a painting (pictured above) to present to the school, with a small plaque. The class included Don Coleman, who became NSW State Architect, with designs including the original layout of Dubbo Zoo.
