The students of St Mary’s and St Edmund’s once tore through Ipswich on their bikes in boatneck shirts, convinced they were the coolest kids alive.
“Winchester Cathedral” drifted from transistor radios, break-up day meant a trip to the local pool, and the world, at least for a Year 10 student in 1966, felt simple, sun soaked and full of mischief.
Next month, that world will be briefly rebuilt when the 1966 cohort celebrates its 60-year reunion at the Ipswich City Golf Club on Saturday, October 17.
The milestone event, organised by Jim Collins with support from Carmel Thomas, Donna Hooper and others, will bring together classmates who haven’t shared a room, or a laugh, in decades.
Mr Collins will present highlights at the luncheon, but much of the day will be powered by the memories that have survived six long, busy, unpredictable decades.
For former student Leo Grayson, those memories are vivid, funny and occasionally chaotic.
He recalls Brother Graham Cooney’s push to get the boys into gymnastics, especially the parallel bars, a decision that produced more slapstick than sporting glory.
“Peter McKeown was straddling the bars, getting ready for a forward roll into a dismount,” Mr Grayson said. “We thought we heard him call, ‘Catch me guys!’ as he launched himself … we missed him by that much, then crash! That boy went on to be a survivor.”
Outside the classroom, Ipswich was their playground. Boatneck shirts were the fashion statement of the year, and the boys rode around town convinced they were trendsetters.
To dial up the nostalgia even further for the reunion, Mr Grayson has supplied one of his charity music quizzes featuring songs from the ’66 era.
Funds raised will support Roby Curtis and the Emmanuel City Mission team, helping people experiencing homelessness.
