Waverley townspeople lines the streets to celebrate primary school’s 150th anniversary

Waverley Primary School 150th anniversary. From left to right are Margaret Kiff, Lynda Neil, Tim Marriott, Brenda Simpson, Merle Woodhill, June Lupton and Sue McAree. Photo / Bevan Conley

Waverley came out strong in support of the 150th anniversary of the South Taranaki town’s primary school.

The school first opened in 1873, when Waverley was originally known as Wairoa Et. or Little Wairoa.

Included as part of the celebrations were a pōwhiri, wine and cheese evening, street parade, cake-cutting ceremony, generational class photo shoots, and a church service.

Chairwoman of the Anniversary Committee, June Lupton, said the anniversary had been in the planning phases for the last two years.

She said they were uncertain how many people would show up to the reunion due to factors like Covid-19.

“We booked everything, crossed our fingers, and waited until two months out when we really started pushing it,” she said.

However, she said the weekend ended up being awesome and the community showed up in force to support the event.

Registrations manager Margaret Kiff said initially registrations were slow, but people showed their interest in it in the last few weeks.

“It was challenging because [we] did it 25 years ago, so when you’re 25 years older it was quite challenging, technology’s all changed again, but it went really well,” Kiff said.

Around 400 people registered for the festivities, who came away loving the event.

“It was one of those events that just flowed,” Lupton said.

Particularly, the parade on Saturday drew a big crowd, with much of the town lining Main St to watch an array of colourful floats roll by from various community organisations.

Waverley Primary School float won best in the parade. Photo / Lynda Neil

School principal Tim Marriott said it was a privilege to take part in the festivities.

“It was an amazing event to be a part of, I’ve only spent three years in the community,” he said.

Marriott is originally from Southland and he was working in Abu Dhabi when he got the call to become principal at Waverley, so it was special for him to come home and be a part of such a moment for the school.

“I guess a highlight for me would have been the parade, which was a huge community event for us and it was the one I wasn’t working at so I got an opportunity to have a look around and talk to people.”

The school had one of their classrooms set up to look like an old-fashioned classroom, with an 1890s-style desk people were able to autograph.

Historical artefacts were also on display, such as the principal’s logbook from 1874.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have the one from 1873, but that’s pretty spectacular,” Marriott said.

The committee’s social media manager Lynda Neil’s 5-year-old son cut the cake along with 97-year-old Merle Hopkirk, with the youngest and oldest person at the event getting the honours.

Merle Hopkirk, 97, and Arlo Neil, 5, the youngest and oldest person at the event getting the honours. Photo / Lynda Neil

“I actually felt quite privileged for him to cut it because both of our families, mine and my husband’s, have got lots of history with the school.

“Both of us went here, our parents went here, our grandparents went here, so... I felt like it couldn’t have been a more perfect local kid,” Neil said.

Lupton thanked the Waverley community for showing such support to the event, in both attendance and fundraising for the event.

She also thanked her fellow committee members for their work in reaching out to all parts of the community to contribute to the anniversary

Marriott said there was one more event part of the celebrations to do, as they planned on burying a time capsule on school grounds with letters from students to their future selves placed inside.

Lupton thanked her fellow committee members for their work and for reaching out to all parts of the community to contribute to the event.

Some of the crowd at the Waverley Primary School 150th anniversary dinner and dance. Photo / Lynda Neil