Former students break out the snags for Scarsdale children

A LONG-running tradition will be resurrected today when a free barbecue is held for children attending the Woady Yaloak Primary School Scarsdale campus.

Starting at 12pm, the barbecue will be run by an informal group known as the Old Boys and Old Girls Reunion, which is made up of former Scarsdale Primary School students and – like its name suggests – gathers for periodical catch-ups.

Barbecues like today’s were regular occurrences at the campus before the activity went into hiatus when the property received an upgrade in the early 2020s and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scarsdale Primary School Old Boy Ian Getsom, who has organised the barbecue, said he had revived the event simply because he wanted to renew the group’s involvement with the campus.

A former Golden Plains Shire councillor and mayor, Mr Getsom attended what was then the Scarsdale Primary School in the 1950s.

He said the idea of official gatherings for past students originally started in 1906 as the Old Boys Reunion.

“But then the girls joined in; we had our centenary in 2006,” Mr Getsom said.

He said the group now has about 20 members, with as many as a dozen expected to be involved in running today’s barbecue at the Pitfield Road campus.

Mr Getsom said members were scattered far and wide, with one travelling from Port Fairy for the barbecue.

The group formerly used money raised by members’ subscriptions and raffles to buy books for the Scarsdale students, but Mr Getsom said time had run out on organising them this year – hence the barbecue.

And he said while the event is primarily for the children, other people interested in a sausage and some coleslaw will not be turned away.

Following the barbecue, group members will attend a luncheon at the Cattle Yards Inn on La Trobe Street, Delacombe, tomorrow.

The Scarsdale campus is part of the Woady Yaloak Primary School, which was established in 1994 through a community-initiated amalgamation of four rural schools located at Scarsdale, Smythesdale, Snake Valley and Ross Creek.