By LIA SPENCER
MORE than 160 people gathered in Dandenong on the weekend to reminisce about their time at Doveton Technical School.
The reunion was held at Dandenong Workers Club and was organised by past students Chris Holland and Lance O’Reilly with the help of volunteers from the Dandenong High School Ex-Student Association.
Greta Jungworth, president of the association, said volunteers had been organising archives from the school for several months.
The former students attended the school from when it first opened in 1963 to 1993 when it became Doveton Secondary College.
It later amalgamated with Cleeland Secondary College and Dandeong High School.
The main speaker was Noel Chappel who was a former long-time principal at the school.
“He gave a great history of his involvement at the school,” Ms Jungworth said.
“He was a student teacher, then went somewhere else before returning.
“He said it was a wonderful place with heart and people who went there didn’t want to leave. Students would travel long distances to stay at the schools.”
Ms Jungworth also spoke at the event and told guests about how the Dandenong High School Ex-Student Association inherited the archives and felt a great responsibility to take good care of them because of people’s attachment to the school.
She said the volunteers, including Margaret Haywood, worked tirelessly to organise the archives, which were also previously used for display at the Cleeland Secondary College reunion.
Other important guests included 98-year-old former principal Jim Nuttal and teachers Allan Wookey and Mike Adam.
“The day was great. The Dandenong Workers Club were very helpful and the rooms were overflowing with people,” Ms Jungworth said.
“Everyone was delighted that someone organised the event and everyone had stories to share.”
