02/06/2020
Community members of Camberley School, including its staff and principal, gave free rein in the creation of this 2-metre high pull-up banner celebrating the school's 50th birthday with reunited students from around the world.
The schoolโs iconic walnut tree was the theme of this reunion and echoed throughout, even appearing on the event's t-shirts - awesome alright, Brenda Wainohu. The schoolโs logo and colours, as well as, the mottos used over the years were added. Our friend, Dulcy Tihema, committed herself to scan hundreds upon hundreds of photographs over a two-week period. We're so thankful. โค๏ธ
Featured is a group photo taken at the last jubilee 25 years previously. On seeing the pic, we giggled when former student, Bridget Paku, stated: โEw, look at my hair!โ ๐
Highlighted was a scattering of diversely eclectic pictures from the past 50 years and on close-up (in the background of the banner), can be seen the collage of โ1,000 school photos which included sports, cultural and dance groups, trips, camps and community activities, tae kwon do, Scottish culture, yearly class photos, Te Kรตhanga Reo o Heretaunga (when it was on school grounds), multiple celebrity visitors, including the Prime Minister ๐ - we added everything we found.
The jubilee weekend arrived and the opening powhiri ceremony, overseen by local kaumatua, Papa Jerry Hapuku, had begun. And, right in the middle of the hui, on full display, stood the banner - you couldnโt miss it. Directly in front of it, spanning the breadth of the room, was a long empty space - an invisible line that separated the welcoming tangata whenua on one side, and the visiting jubilee attendees on the other. With Sally Maoate's creative eye used throughout the weekend's decorative settings, the banner looked right at home - proud, yet standing so wonderfully humbly. ๐
After the event, surprisingly touching photos surfaced on the internet and it seemed the banner had received โspecial taonga-likeโ treatment. Once again, on full display, it accompanied past and present staff and students in their reunion photos - wow.
- with Camberley School ...MEMORIES are 4EVA...