2011 sees St George’s Preparatory celebrating its 75th birthday, and to commemorate this milestone in the school’s history we held a birthday reunion weekend in May.
Past pupils of the Prep travelled from across the country to join in with parents and friends of the school in a variety of events from 5 – 7 May. The programme began with a Victorian Tea in celebration of the historic roots of the school building. The adults were hosted to a lavish spread, while the Prep pupils enjoyed their own tea and then mastered the game of croquet and flew kites. The Pre-Primary children were treated to an audience-participation story time.
That evening a gala dinner was held at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium where guests were treated to spectacular cabaret entertainment. They then enthusiastically participated in an auction to raise funds for a new Arts and Media Centre for the school. Auction items ranged from a box-framed original school cane through to an England 2010 Soccer World Cup team shirt signed by Frank Lampard.
Friday morning began with a special assembly at the school where past pupils participated by conducting the scripture readings. Old Boy and current Chair of the St George’s Association, Mike Helliwell, gave a humorous account of his time at the Prep during the 1970s, regaling the captivated audience with anecdotes of the antics that the boys of the Prep got up to during that time.
A time capsule containing, amongst other items, letters from the Grade 7s, a message from the Headmaster Jonathan Liss, a CD of current music, a branded St George’s bottle of red wine, and a local take-away menu, was then ceremoniously buried. A plaque was placed on top of this with instructions for the time capsule to be unearthed during the Prep’s Centenary year. Guided tours of the school were then conducted after which members of the birthday reunion party embarked on one of three excursion options – an outing to Addo Game Reserve, golf at the Humewood Golf Club, or a Chef’s Table at the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Being a day Primary school, the reunion organisers felt that it was important to arrange a function specifically for past pupils who are currently in high school. This took the form of an informal braai at the Prep with many past pupils being bussed in with kind permission from the various boarding high schools in Grahamstown. This was a very well supported event, and even though the pupils had only been out of the Prep for a few years, they spent the evening reminiscing and re-forging friendships. Running in parallel to this braai was a festive Music Trivia evening for the adults in a separate venue at the school.
Saturday saw the 75th birthday sports festival involving 7 schools taking place – with Merrifield traveling from East London in order to celebrate with the Prep. Boys’ and girls’ hockey and boys’ soccer were played in the morning in a competitive yet friendly and festive atmosphere. The drought in Port Elizabeth was partially broken when torrential rain began to fall, fortunately resulting in only two hockey matches being cancelled. With the rains continuing to fall, the afternoon saw the swimming gala take place in the St George’s indoor Aquatic Centre. Dedicated rain-soaked fathers resolutely cooked boerewors rolls outside while the swimmers enjoyed the heated facilities indoors.
The final event of the weekend was an informal spitbraai that evening which was enjoyed by many die-hard and enthusiastic, yet exhausted, supporters of the Prep.
The feedback on the reunion has been overwhelmingly positive, and it saw the entire St George’s Prep family jointly celebrating this milestone in the school’s history. It was a wonderful opportunity for past pupils who had not seen each other for many years to reconnect and to share memories of their many happy years at St George’s. They left undertaking to return to their old stomping ground well before the Prep’s Centenary year!
