Old boys from New Lambton Public celebrate 50 years

But on Saturday night, those young faces, now men in their late 50s, were reunited to take a stroll down memory lane.

And the man behind the reunion – respected former teacher Kelvin Turnbull – was there to cap off an end of an era with his last school reunion.

The 72-year-old gathered more than 40 men – students from class 3B during 1963 and 1964 – for a beer and a catch up at Kotara Bowling Club. 

Former New Lambton Public School student Rod Dawson said among the rows of boys in the black and white school photograph were those who went on to become legal, medical and financial professionals.

He said the men had agreed to make their next gathering sooner rather than later.

‘‘We enjoyed it so much, we’ve decided we wanted to try and do it the first Saturday in February every year,’’ Mr Dawson said.

‘‘We’re all about 60 now and there is no point waiting another 10 or 20years to get together – we don’t know how many years we’ve got left.’’

Mr Dawson said Mr Turnbull was a ‘‘fantastic teacher’’ who had helped sculpt the boys into men. 

‘‘He was more than a school teacher, he actually helped us develop our lives,’’ Mr Dawson said. ‘‘Kelvin was a brilliant bloke and loved being involved in everything in the school, including cricket, soccer and softball. He has organised about seven or eight reunions but told us this was his last – it’s the end of an era really.’’