Still standing strong

The Dartmoor Primary School is celebrating 150 years of education this weekend. Originally planned for last year, events were postponed due to the pandemic.

The reunion will start with a fete on Saturday from 11am-4pm. The official welcome will be at 12noon with speeches, entertainment, historical displays, a variety of stalls, novelty games, food and drink, and activities throughout the afternoon. At 6pm there will be a ticketed evening of entertainment, music, and food in the Dartmoor Hall.

A highlight of the night will an auction of many items including: accommodation and meal vouchers, handmade quilts, trailer loads of firewood, recreational activity vouchers, movie tickets, motor service vouchers, and a Geelong AFL guernsey signed by ex-Dartmoor pupil and premiership player Jeremy Cameron.

A bid can be lodged online prior to the auction, as well as commemorative items and entry tickets purchased – see the Dartmoor-Primary- School-150-Year-Celebration facebook page.

Celebrations continue on Sunday with breakfast at the school at 9am followed by a short historical walk in the township. The Museum and Community Op Shop will be open for visiting, as will the school until 1pm. A history of the first 125 years of the school has been republished by the museum for sale, and a summary of the past 25 years can be ordered prior to printing.

Monies raised over the weekend will be put to good and lasting use at the school, helping with a much needed playground overhaul through the purchase and installation of new equipment.

WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE: (Above top left) Original school in 1900; (above top right) the ‘new’ school in 1915 complete with garden; (above) Dartmoor Primary School Grade 1 & 2 1955 with teacher Margaret Kerr (Rowbottom) and (left) a Jermey Cameron signed Geelong guernsey will headline the auction.