There were plenty of happy memories being recalled on Friday evening when former staff of Marire Home met up at the TET Stadium Bar and Bistro to mark the closure of the Marire building.
Chairman of Marire Home, Michael Walsh, thanked those present for their service to the facility over the years.
"There are plenty of mixed emotions as we consider why we are here tonight," he said, recognising the Page St site had served the Stratford community for over eight decades, firstly as a private hospital, then used for maternity care before becoming a rest home.
Marire opened as a rest home in April 1969 and had always lived up to the name home, he said.
"The chatter and banter I hear tonight represents exactly what Marire was always like, it was a home, it always had a homely feel to it."