More than half the people at a reunion in Whangarei yesterday were there to tell tales on each other.
Some brought spouses, partners, elderly parents and other family members along, and all had one story in common. They were once the children who grew up in Mains Ave, Kensington, inthe 1940s, 50s and 60s.
About 70 people came from all over New Zealand and even Australia for the reunion.
The event was organised by three Mains Ave "kids", Jean Finlayson, Barry Paton and Betty Johns.
Mrs Finlayson said some of them had met up again at school reunions since life took them away from Mains, but this was the first and possibly last street reunion they might have.
"It was a street full of kids and many of their parents had businesses in town. Mains Ave was quite the street," she said. "We all grew up together but we might not know each other now."
Among the reminiscences shared was the one about the "chewing gum gang".
"Six of us would put penny pocket money together and we'd go down to Milne's Dairy on the corner to spend sixpence on lollies, but one of us would get to choose the chewing gum with one of the pennies," Mrs Finlayson said. "The one whose turn it was to choose the flavour got to have it first then we'd wash it, dip it in sugar and pass it on to the next one. It went around the six of us for hours."
Yesterday's reunion luncheon was held at the Kamo Club but, despite the geography and decades between, Mains Ave and childhood were never far away.
Nor was that all important part of every town neighbourhood back in the day, the local dairy. Many of yesterday's Mains Ave kids ended their get together with a trip to Narnia Cafe, aka the old and much loved corner shop.
