Former Dubbo High/College students from near and far made their way to the Dubbo RSL on Saturday to celebrate 100 years of the Astley Cup.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hosted by the Bindyi Club, a group which consists of former Dubbo High students, former Astley Cup competitors and supporters were welcomed to reflect and tell tales about their own experiences.
The Bindyi Club's chairperson Jill McCann admitted it was wonderful to see some familiar faces as well as reminisce on their history with the competition.
"It was wonderful, it was a really great and happy day," she said.
"We had a great cross-section of students from the 1940s to the early 2000s, everyone had a great time.
"There were people there who hadn't seen each other for a very long time."
With the majority of Dubbo's Astley Cup history coming under the Dubbo High banner, McCann believes the tournament has done wonders for former students like herself.
"The interesting thing is I belong to the Dubbo High School era but what the Astley Cup has done is create a unifying force between the College and those of us who went to Dubbo High," she said.
Decorations and a wonderful cake were made by current students, with the oldest member in the room, 96-year-old Ruby Riach doing the honour of cutting the cake.
READ ALSO:
While the event mainly focused on looking back at the past, the current crop of students were also involved with McCann impressed to see what they could do.
"We had special education students who made little mascots for every person in the room which was fantastic," she said.
"They made little red and black oigles for every person in the room. The cake was made by a student in year eight, she's apparently got her own little business."
"It was cut by Ruby Riach, she was a student who entered Dubbo High School in 1939."
Several guest speakers spoke on Saturday, including a former school captain and sports organiser Craig May.
"There were people there who had played every Astley Cup sport or some who hadn't played anything," McCann said.
"Jim Carey former principal was there as well as the current principal, Zoe McAneney the current school captain made a speech and so did Craig May.
"The other speaker was Margie Gleeson, she was school captain in 1973 when the Astley Cup had its 50th-year celebrations."
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.