By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE reunion is finally upon us.
On Sunday, past students of Doveton Technical School, later known as Doveton Secondary College, will flock to the Dandenong Workers Club for a very special get-together.
The Doveton Tech reunion will be held for students who attended the school from when it opened in 1963, through to the 1990s.
Past student Chris Holland is responsible for getting the reunion up and running, having spent most of the year planning the event.
Just before the school closed down in 2008, Chris walked through his old stomping ground at Doveton Technical School and felt nostalgia wash over him.
“About eight years ago, when Doveton Tech was going away, they had an open day and they had all the photos on the board of Doveton Tech from different years,” Chris said.
“I’d seen a few photos that I’d wanted. It’s (the reunion) been on my mind for a while.
“Greta from Dandy High has all the archives there and she has the records for Doveton Tech, so I went to Dandy High and went through the photos and I took away the photos I liked.”
With the help of Greta Jungwirth, a member of the Dandenong High School Ex-student Association, Chris and other past Doveton Tech students have helped to organise this weekend’s reunion, having gone through a myriad of photographs of the school from when it opened in 1963, through to the 1980s.
Doveton Tech began as a technical school for boys before welcoming its first group of female students in 1967.
More than 10,000 students attended the school over 45 years but a decline in numbers led to the school council’s decision to close the facility in 2008 and relocate its students through a partnership with Dandenong High School and Cleeland Secondary College.
Chris said the reunion could see a lot more guests drop by the Dandenong Workers Club than was first predicted.
“There’s going to be all the teachers there, who were there from the start,” he said.
“It’s just got better and better. I’m allocating for 100 but there could be 200.”
The Doveton Tech reunion will be held on 12 October at the Dandenong Workers Club, from noon to 4pm, and will include a $5 entry fee.
