kilquhanity House School

Quick update on the August 2010 reunion: There are around sixty people committed to attending so far, around fifty want to come but are not yet sure if they can organise things to suit, two know they can't come and the rest have not yet responded. So, if you haven't contacted us yet, get your fingers out and please, please let us know if you are coming, thinking about coming or definitely not coming. It's reckoned that there were around 600 pupils attended Killy from 1940 to 1997, not sure about staff numbers, so there are still a few people out there who may yet turn up for it. As far as the catering is concerned, we have contacted a local catering company who will provide a good quality hot buffet style meal with vegatarian options and salads starting from £6 per head including serving, crockery, cutlery, clearing and washing. It will all be prepared and washed off site. We will decide on menus later. At the moment it's suggested that there will be an evening meal for Friday and Saturday with a brunch type Sunday meal. Having said that, possibly most people will be staying in hotels and B&B's so perhaps won't require anything on Sunday. "But what about the campers" I hear you say, indeed, there are some who will be camping so perhaps brunch would be a good idea. So, please give any contacts you have a nudge by email, phone or letter, we want to hear from you all as soon as possible.

Kilquhanity 70th Birthday Bash

First of all apologies about the dates - the proprietor of Kilquhanity, Shin-ichiro Hori, who has been involved with Killy for over 40 years, would very much like to be part of the celebrations, for this reason the date has to be the weekend of the 21st/22nd August.

PLEASE COPY THE LIST OF QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THIS NOTICE AND PASTE THEM, ALONG WITH YOUR ANSWERS, INTO AN EMAIL BACK TO US AT killyreunion@aol.com . WE IDEALLY NEED TO HEAR BACK FROM YOU NO LATER THAN THE END OF FEBRUARY SO THAT WE GET AN IDEA OF THE LIKELY NUMBERS AND START TO ORGANISE IT ALL.

As ever, for an event like this, people need to plan ahead to fit round holidays and family and organise transport etc, hopefully we are leaving you all enough time to do that. There has been some thought put into the details for the weekend but nothing is set in stone and we're open to sensible suggestions and offers of help leading up to and during the weekend itself. The weekend will be open to all former pupils, former staff, friends of Kilquhanity, friends of former pupils and staff and anyone who is like-minded or has a kindred spirit with Kilquhanity. PLEASE MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT, PASS THIS NOTICE ON TO ALL YOUR RELEVANT CONTACTS.

At this stage we are provisionally booking the fantastic African drumming ensemble WaaSylla and endeavouring to pin down the band for the ceilidh, Two Left Feet.

POSSIBLE PROGRAMME OF EVENTS:

Friday 20th: possibility of some expressive arts workshops: African drumming, poetry, art, costume, masks. informal gigging - bring your own instruments and voices.

Saturday 21st: continuation of above, possibly with public performances of the workshops outcomes, maybe a fancy dress reflecting your era at Killy before a grand Ceilidh dance on the lawn or in the stable. Football/rounders on pitch, weather permitting.

Sunday 22nd: open doors for reunions to continue informally, lots of hang-over coffee. Possibly football, rounders, cycle race, raffles, auctions etc...... timings and activities are all to be decided. It's also possible there will be copies of the Jubilee book, CDs of the vinyl albums which were produced in the early 70s and also DVDs of the various films of Killy available for purchase - more on them later.

ACCOMMODATION:

At the moment it looks as if there will be no bed space available in Killy. However, one thought is to look at camping on the grass tennis court and also possibly opening up a field at Knockvennie Hall along with access to the toilets and kitchen there. In addition, it may be possible for people to bring their own sleeping bags/mattresses/pillows and sleep on the floor of the hall. We don't think showers and baths will be available at Killy and there are only wash hand basins and a kitchen sink at Knockvennie Hall. There are of course hotels and B&B's locally, which I'm sure will be the choice of some who prefer a little comfort and have left the "roughing it" time of their lives behind. If you live close to Killy and you would like to offer a spare bed, a floor or a garden to camp in then please let us know.

FOOD AND DRINK:

The kitchen at Killy will not be available so the thought at present is to run a barbeque pit so that people can cook their own food. However, perhaps there are some people out there who are willing and able to become chefs or cooks for a time and possibly make a small profit, or not. Alcohol and drinks: It's likely we'll have a low profit bar from Friday night to Sunday night, serving alcohol, soft drinks, tea, coffee and simple snacks.

At the moment the whole programme is provisional - we are open to suggestions of other forms of entertainment, other music or outside caterers. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas please.

All of the above will take some considerable organisation and cost. Killy does not intend to make a profit from this venture but will endeavour to at least cover costs. It is likely that we will therefore charge a per head ticket/fee for the whole weekend, the Saturday dance and/or the workshops. At the moment we think it would be simplest to charge £10 per head for the whole weekend. However, we also think there should be a fund raising scheme which once the costs of the weekend have been covered then any remaining money can be donated to The Kilquhanity Childrens Village. It's an opportunity for everyone to give back to the place that gave so much to us all in the hope it will give many others a similar extraordinary experience.

What we must first do is ascertain potential numbers so please email the list of questions (at the end of this notice) back to us as soon as you can. Remember this event is not limited to past students and staff, it's also open to anyone who is a friend of Killy or has a kindred spirit.

We look forward to seeing you all in August!

Andrew Pyle/Steve Winning

PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS BY THE END OF FEBRUARY AND EMAIL TO:

KILLYREUNION@AOL.COM

Are you coming and if so how many are you?

Are you happy to pay a £10 per head ticket/fee for the weekend?

Will you be wanting to camp? (There may be a small charge)

Which days do you think you will attend?

Are you interested in helping with any of the organising before or during the event?

Recieved from Deedee Cuddihy February 19, 2008. (Sorry I took so long to publish this Deedee, not enough time!)

A pupil at Killy from 1962 - 1965

Killy reunion at Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on Sunday, February 17, 2008 - Fantastic!!!!! I had so much fun, I was almost hyperventilating. Many, many thanks to Liz and Steve Winning for organising everything and welcoming everybody so warmly and gently pointing us in the direction of the dining room (good food) and keeping glasses topped up and making sure everyone was having a good time etc. etc.

Who was there? Well there were fewer than expected but it's difficult to speak to everyone as much as one might when it's a short afternoon event so actually it worked out well. There were 14 altogether - Liz and Steve Winning, Deedee Cuddihy, Liz Carmichael, Gordon and Jennifer Duncan, Joyce Garland, Kim and Morag Redpath, Lydia Pearson, Nigel Ross, Gary Thomson, Suzanne Dance (Toni Hancock) and Robbie Martin, What was especially good was that there were people who had been at Killy as pupils or staff over a wide period of time (‘50s - ‘80s), some with partners, and even though some of us had never met before, we were all soon chatting away and getting to know each other. So it wasn’t all Killy talk; it was also a chance to meet some lovely new people.

People came from as far away as Aberdeen(shire) in the north to West Sussex in the south.(I was waiting at the bar in the Hilton and a woman standing next to me said: “Are you having a school reunion? I can feel the excitement coming from all of you. You look like you’re having so much fun.”)

Lydia Pearson was there and brought photographs and even some letters I had written her after she left in the early 1960s. Oh my God!!!!!!!! I had no idea how obsessed I was with boys. I hadn’t seen Lydia for almost 40 years and it was so brilliant to meet up with her again. I LOVE YOU LYDIA. We spoke of, among others: Anna, Clare, Mike Critchley, Douglas Herd (Plug) . . . Maybe see you at the next reunion - if Liz and Steve can bear to organise another one?

If you would like to be included in the mailing list for future reunions/gatherings or want to offer help in organising one, please send your contact details to killyreunion@aol.com

There may well be a gathering this summer but at the moment it's looking favourable to plan further ahead for a really big event coinciding with the 70th aniversary in the summer of 2010. This doesn't mean we can't do something this summer, if there's enough interest, possibly in the south this time. As you will probably know, the school is now owned and run by the Japanese people whom John and Morag used to vist each year in Japan. Andrew Pyle, a former Killy pupil, is headmaster. We found this article on the web which gives a pretty good idea of what's happening at Killy now.

There has been a TV series broadcast recently (which was highly rated in the reviews) on CBBC about Summerhill School and they say it will be repeated sometime.

We would really like to have memories of Killy from you so we can all read them here, so get writing and emailing please