THE recent Hickson family reunion at Toolleen saw a teacher reconnect with some of his students from the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Bill Ovenden taught at a one-room school at Muskerry East, north of Axedale, early in his career.<\/p>\n
Cheryl Payne, nee Hickson, said he was an inspiring teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was talking to him the other day about his gender equity policy,\u201d she said. \u201cHe let me do woodwork and all sorts of hammering and he taught me what a fret saw was and never once said \u2018oh girls can’t do that\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe encouraged me to come early to school to practise my western roll, which is a technique for high jump, and I then won all the high jump events in the combined school sports with Colbinabbin, Toolleen, Wanalta, Corop, and Myola.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always encouraged us to reach our potential, he was a visionary really because he had those early thoughts that anyone could do anything.<\/p>\n
Ms Payne said he had also influenced her career choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if you do all your schoolwork in the morning, you can teach the two preps in the afternoon which I did and then I went on and I became a kindergarten teacher,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that was very significant because he allowed me to do that, and he fostered my abilities in that area.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister Yvonne also became a teacher, and he taught her too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Payne said Mr Ovenden made learning interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was different, and I suppose because he was in such a small school, he could use his initiative to do lots of different things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went on nature walks once a week, we built cubby houses with all sorts of natural material, and he just encouraged that initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really relished our learning and to keep in contact with him all these years is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ovenden also has fond memories of his time at the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuskerry East was a small co-operative friendly school with a very supportive community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my second year out teaching, which I enjoyed immensely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe children were always eager to learn, and I always tried to make it as enjoyable as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relatives of Mary Roulston, nee Smith, who taught many members of the Hickson family at the Muskerry East school in the 1920s, were also at the gathering.<\/p>\n
The Hickson family reunion brought together some of the 1186 known descendants of Edward George Hickson and Lucy Mary Ann Aylett in late March.<\/p>\n
Edward and Lucy both arrived in Australia in 1860 but did not marry until 1879.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucy Mary Ann’s family had a hotel in Toolleen,” Ms Payne said. \u201cShe was a lot younger than him, but he had his eye on her and he kept going to that hotel. He was 39 and she was 19.\u201d<\/p>\n
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