{"id":109574,"date":"2015-06-03T03:56:28","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T17:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=109574"},"modified":"2020-11-12T15:06:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T05:06:54","slug":"st-marys-celebrates-its-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/06\/03\/st-marys-celebrates-its-history\/","title":{"rendered":"St Mary’s Celebrates Its History"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
St Mary’s Catholic College school captains Richelle Bethke and Rory Browne helped with the massive roll call of ex-students on Sunday afternoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 3, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Mary’s Catholic College principal Michael Nayler, staff and students are now breathing a little bit easier … the school’s huge anniversary reunion weekend is over and it was a great success.<\/p>\n

The weekend, which celebrated a number of milestones for the school over 2014-15, was more than a year in the planning.<\/p>\n

A large contingent of ex-students enjoyed a social day at the Nanango Races (see separate report<\/b><\/a>) before coming back to the school on Saturday night for Mass followed by food, entertainment and lots of chatting, photographs and browsing memorabilia.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, there was an Open Day at the school where visitors could inspect classrooms and enjoy a barbecue.<\/p>\n

Current students also provided entertainment and there was also a large roll call marking off the names of the returned students.<\/p>\n

A special guest at the weekend was Kingaroy resident Kevin Schultz who started school at St Mary’s in 1929 – the year the original Sisters of Charity opened the first Catholic school.<\/p>\n

The visitor who clocked up one of the longest travelling distances was Ruth Eastick, who travelled from Alice Springs especially for the reunion.<\/p>\n

Ruth and her foster brother Gabriel were the first Aboriginal children to attend St Mary’s. She finished Year 12 in 1978.<\/p>\n

Mr Nayler said there had been more than 600 people in the c0ngregation for the Saturday Mass, and probably another 250-300 came along on Sunday for the Open Day.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

2014 was the:<\/strong><\/p>\n