STE WARD S HIP
22
Celebrating our Founders, the Brown family, is always a wonderful event in which many of our old scholars cherish the opportunity to participate. On Friday 19 May, we were joined by more than 35 old scholars who were from the classes of 1956 or earlier. Our guest speaker was old scholar Mary Shierlaw (nee Russell). Mary attended Wilderness from 1939 until 1945 and was in Amaryllis House. Her sister Betty Moore (nee Russell) also attended Wilderness and was in the Class of 1947 but she was in Carob! Mary’s late husband Joe Shierlaw was a Wilderness student from 1931-1933. She also has a niece Sally Shierlaw who taught at Wilderness. Mary has 4 children; Helen (Class of 1976, Anne (Class of 1982), John who had 2 daughters at Wilderness – Emma (Class of 2004) and Kate (Class of 2006) and Tim who has Ella Shierlaw currently in Year 6 at Wilderness Mary shared stories of her school days
and some of the many changes since she was a student at Wilderness. It was captivating for all to hear. Following a roll call and celebration of Wilderness School’s history in the Assembly, our special guests wandered to the Old Scholars’ Association Gallery for High Tea. Marg Keane, Archivist, had worked diligently to share an historical display featuring many of our old scholars from their school days including original photographs, uniforms, letters and much more memorabilia.
Newman Theatre and a full tour of the redeveloped Browns’ House. ‘My goodness, so much has changed. If only I could be at Wilderness School today.’ Our old scholars were astounded at the transformation and appreciated the state-of-the-art facilities available to the girls. Since our fabulous annual celebration with our old scholars, we have received a number of updates recalling names of students from the late 1940s and 1950s and also some cherished mementoes have been donated to place in our Archives and share with our community.
It was also an opportunity to cross check some of the names on the photographs. We are slowly gathering a complete list of ‘who is who’ thanks to the brilliant memories of our old scholars. It is heart-warming to share the many memories of school days and the laughter reminiscing with these pictures and keepsakes.
Founders Day with our old scholars is an event we look forward to from which everyone leaves smiling. Jodie Escott Manager of Development & Community
Jane Danvers welcomed our guests and was joined by the SRC girls who chatted with our old scholars. Following a delightful morning tea, a few of the old scholars enjoyed a walk through the new Science laboratories,
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
A Sally Hopton, Jane Danvers & Anne Levy B Sally Hopton, Anne Levy & Barb Fargher C Ron Waxman & Patrick Bagot D Pamela Bond, Booie Hayward & Anne Levy
E Liz Manifold & Jill Gray with students F Mary Shierlaw & Ann Marsden G Jeanette Chapman, Pamela Bond, Lorraine Gormly, Barb Fargher H Margaret Young, Rosemary Dyer & Mary Michelmore