The Inaugural West Australian Hill School Eldoret Reunion held in Perth on 13 January 2002
An account of the Reunion by Allan and Ruth (nee Naylor) Darvall
Our thanks to you and your helpers for staging the recent get together of Hill Schoolians at the Hillary's Marina. While of course I, Allan am not a Hill Schoolian myself, I certainly have a long association with the original School dating back right to it's first construction and even before the RAF personnel moved in and took up residence, and of course ongoing as some of our best friends were stationed there - specifically Charles Rowe who became Chief Accountant, and I think later General Manager, of the Unga Company. My mother too served as Secretary at various times to Gledhill, Redhead and OT Davis as well as doing relief teaching and being a live-in Dormitory Matron, though our house was only a short way over the road from the School. My Aunt Gwen Bristow was the Art Teacher at the School for many years too. My father had the misfortune of being the Fire master of the Volunteer Fire fighters at the time of the disastrous fire, and needless to say it left him completely shattered to find that he had lost the life of someone else's kid! Ann Jorgensen and I looked upon ourselves at the Reunion as unofficial representatives of Kitale School, having both attended that School at the time when Arthur Brindley taught there after his stint at Nakuru School and before he moved to Nairobi.
The Hill School Mob
From left-right (top row): Fred Lichtenstein (52-58); Andrew Gibson (57-62); Erik Jorgensen (44-46); Antony Williamson (51-52); Joan Gasson (nee Williamson: 51-52); Betty Gild (nee Lichtenstein: 56-61)
(Middle row): Dave Lichtenstein (50-56); Marie Kennedy (nee van Rooyen: 57-62); Sheena Tedesco (nee Blain: 56-57); Esther Wende (nee Lichtenstein: 54-59); Cherry Renton (Carly: 56-59)
(Front row): Mary Priestley (nee Nicholls: staff 56-61), Una Edwards (nee Money: staff 46-47); Penny Jackson (nee Gibson: 57-63); June Parker (staff 52-60); Ruth Darvall (nee Naylor: 48-52
The Non-Hill School Mob
From left-right (top row): Joe Kennedy, Alan Jackson
(Front row): Allan Darvall, Margaret Nicholls, Ann Jorgensen, Gene Croft, Jan Gibson, Kevin Renton, Maxine Lichtenstein, Rose Ann Lichtenstein
The Staff
Mary Priestley (nee Nicholls 56-61), Una Edwards (nee Money 46-47), June Parker (52-60) | The Lichtenstein Mob with one of their Class Teachers
Dave Lichtenstein (50-56), Fred Lichtenstein (52-58), June Parker (52-60), Esther Wende (nee Lichtenstein 54-59), Betty Gild (nee Lichtenstein (56-61) |
Our observations on the Reunion: Fabulous! The venue was very nice and to us country bumpkins who these days see expanses of water no bigger than the odd farm dam or the all too rare puddle after a drop of rain, the sight of boats and jetties and so many people frolicking in the briney was very refreshing indeed! The food was good though like all things in the big City was overpriced if one was too shy to make a pig of oneself - Pardon, we shouldn't say that in present company! - and we suppose the next best thing would have been a braaivleis up at Mundaring Weir or something like that where we might have all sat round more closely and swapped yarns of the old days.
None the less we did get to talk to one another and we were fascinated to see this Dave Lichtenstein who buzzed around keeping it all going and did his thing like the perfect host and entrepreneur! Bloody hell! Was this the same introverted little David Lichtenstein that we knew in Kenya who wouldn't say Boo to a goose? Or was he a dark horse then that we didn't even know?! And what about the almost "Kaburu" accent? We guess rubbing shoulders with George van Rooyen over East and the delightful Marie, who we had the pleasure of meeting at the Reunion, and all those Hill Schoolians from South Africa must be responsible for that! Esther, Betty and Fred too, along with Maxine and Rose Ann! What a lovely family! And June Parker too! It's a long time since we saw her cavorting about the stage in those shows that the Hill School staff, and the locals they dragged in, staged in the old wooden halls of the old camp and which were so much a part of Eldoret's entertainment!
We yarned of all the things that used to be, of Duncans and the food parcels, of shopping lorries, of Kibet and the letters, of the old round tank that served as a swimming pool and water scorpion haven, of smelly drains and sliding bare bottomed on bathroom floors, of the old miniature railway and roller skating on the old derelict concrete floor pads, of walking to the Sports Club to play sport, of the New School and the altogether new way of life, of the big thick guys from the Central School and the bullying, and of the train home! Ah! What memories!
We didn't know all the people there when we first arrived but there was soon a bond, and although we unfortunately missed seeing Keith Cairns who was an old acquaintance of Erik Jorgensen and ourselves and who didn't manage to get there, we thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and joining in this very memorable Reunion. Thanks again for your efforts and for giving us the chance to be there! Well done! Keep it up and Good Luck