SMOGS is grateful to those who have hosted reunions for making their homes available and providing wonderful teas, all at their own expense. Their generosity has helped to keep our society viable. In particular we would mention Jennifer Bateman, Marylyn Grange and Geraldine Coe. Thank you all so much.
The centenary celebration 1990
The year 1990 was the 100th anniversary of the foundation of St Margaret’s School and, although the school no longer existed, its memory and spirit were very much alive in the women who had been educated there. The Old Girls Society, which had been run for many years by Maureen O’Sullivan (Mrs Olley), organised a centenary reunion on 14 October. It was advertised in newspapers early in the year.
The celebration began with a special service at Holy Trinity at 10.30, conducted by the Vicar, Canon R O Stroud. Those ‘girls’, now mature ladies and many of them grandmothers, who were not overcome by emotion sang the school hymn ‘Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing’.
This was followed by a luncheon held at Ward’s Hotel, Earl’s Avenue, a few yards from the site of the old school building. Two hundred girls and staff, including many pre-war girls from the de la Mare days, packed into the long room and enjoyed a buffet lunch followed by speeches and presentations.
"Yesterday was unbelievable - to see 'girls' after 35 years was marvellous. I’m speechless and 'wordless', and am finding it very difficult to put on paper my feelings about yesterday. As you said, the days at St Mags were great and will always be with us. I felt very proud to be sitting with the girls of St Margaret’s in Church and even prouder of the stained glass window in Holy Trinity. The memories of school are always with me, but yesterday - well...I shall be crying in a minute! The most wonderful, wonderful day." (Margaret Harrison, 1947-56)
"Excitement bubbled over in meetings of 'old' faces, and exchanges of news, mingled with many moments of nostalgia. I am deeply happy to have been there in person, amongst you all, sharing experiences and, in some cases, adult life histories. One thing which struck me forcibly was how beautiful the girls had become in their maturity. No matter whether they were fat or thin - it was their facial expressions; and interesting conversations regarding their various walks of life, revealing individual personalities, which I felt had something to do with the school background. (Mrs Kathleen Whiteside, Staff, later Mrs Smyth.)
2004 reunion (Folkestone Herald)
Yes, I know we had been holding reunions for 51 years, not 37. The Press have their own rules about changing people's text, don't they? CT.
'70 GIRLS 70'
5 July 2005 saw a small but special reunion at Jennifer Bateman's cottage in Sholden, Kent. Only five could be there: Jennifer of course, Marigold Bassett (cheating --- she is not 70 until 2006!), Maureen O'Sullivan, Pat Norris, Mary Gooch and Wendy Phillips from Canada. They had just assembled when a magnum of chilled champagne was delivered to the door with a message from Audrey Lant: "Happy Septuagenarian Fiesta, wish I was there! I am in spirit." The champagne helped the girls to have lunch in the garden in spite of poor weather. They had melon, home-made chicken pies, gammon and salads, followed by Vaharine of Strawberries and Summer Pudding. Maureen brought her St Margaret's memorabilia which provoked stories of misdemeanours. Rain stopped play, so tea and birthday cake were consumed indoors. Jennifer had decorated the cake with dancing girls, as shown here. Sonja Joyce is planning a similar party next year for her 70-year-old school-friends. May the tradition continue!
Reunion 16 October 2005
Over 30 Old Girls, accompanied by Colin Hasson and his wife, enjoyed a tea-party at the Burlington Hotel in Folkestone. We were delighted to welcome some of the younger ones who were at the School when it closed and have never been to a SMOGS reunion before. They learned about it by discovering this website on the Internet. But we were disappointed that a large proportion of those who had booked places failed to turn up without warning us, including someone who asked for a special diet.
Maria Kirchleitner (Junior School cook), Colin Hasson, Elizabeth Warren
Reunion 2006
We met for tea at the Burlington Hotel in Folkestone again on 22 October and we had a good time. Bookings had been slow to come in, but a multiple email brought out a few who had forgotten to book, and we ended up with 46 bookings. However, it was very disappointing that 15 of them cancelled or failed to turn up on the day. We had a Winifred Hasson display board to mark the 50th anniversary of her untimely death. Zonia Field had lent some Edwardian costumes belonging to Miss Bertha Guilbert de la Mare, niece of the School's founder, and they were a most interesting link with our history.
MORE PHOTOS IN THE SLIDE SHOW AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE
L-R: Anne Blaxland, Jillian Scragg, Eileen Wright and Sandra Lewis at the 22 Oct 2006 reunion.
On the right is the newspaper article in the Kentish Express 16 Nov 2006, and below is the text within it. Not quite what I told them, but near enough!
2007 tea-party at Maureen's
A happy afternoon was spent at Maureen O'Sullivan's charming home in Monken Hadley near Barnet, Herts. on Sunday 13 October. Colin and Gwyneth Hasson were there, and Hanna Cohn who attended the School during the War years and is thus one of the few Old Girls who remembers the School's evacuation to Shropshire (see History page). Janet King came for the first time, as did Jean Bristow who lives in Canada. One photo of a reconstructed panto scene is above: please send others if you took any!
Maureen thanks those who attended, those who donated towards expenses and the nice letters and emails people sent about it.
"Your generous hospitality and the friendly company made it so enjoyable." - - - "The enjoyment, noise and enthusiasm was as great as ever." - - - "And then there was the splendid tea and the brilliant organisation!" - - - "We had a wonderful afternoon."
Well, the knees have hardly changed!
Here are Susan Dolton (Girl Babe) and Caroline Thomas (Boy Babe), in the Pleasure Gardens Theatre in Folkestone (1950), and in Maureen's pleasure garden in Barnet (2007) at the annual SMOGS reunion.
12 October 2008
Jennifer Bateman's gorgeous cottage in Sholden, near Deal, was the scene of one of the happiest reunions for many years. Almost everyone who booked came, and quite a few more besides. We ended up with 41, and it included some new faces who had not been to our Reunions before, including a lovely bunch from Oz. Thank you, Jennifer, for the free-flowing tea and delicious sandwiches, scones, buns and cakes. Those who attended were:
Some of these Old Girls were brought by sisters and friends and don't yet appear in our Directory, so I hope they will send me their contact and biographical details for inclusion.
Jamilah Ahmad, Ozzie Azmoudeh, Marigold Bassett, Jennifer Bateman, Anne Blaxland, Margaret Browne, Sandra Browne, Averil Champion, Jill Chapman, Delia Collett, Mary Cope, Isobel Drew, Naomi Dyson Rooke *, Norma Feldwick, Susan Franks, Goli Ganjei, Margaret Harrison, Colin and Gwyneth Hasson, Margaret Hollis, Sonia Joyce, Nicola Morling, Pat Norris, Maureen O'Sullivan, Julia Parker-Jones, Susan Peck, Shirley Pierson, Zan Port, Bridget Ratcliffe, Jenny Ratcliffe, Sherrian Rewell, Diana Salter, Elizabeth Shinkfield, Wendy Smith, Edna Stocker, Caroline Thomas, Pat Underwood, Margaret Weir, Joy Woodland, Wendy Woolliams and Eileen Wright.
* We are sad to tell you that Naomi died suddenly on 30 October, just days after this happy reunion meeting.
Wendy Smith sent us a lovely post-Reunion message: "I was musing on the way home and suddenly realised what a lovely group of people I had just left. A complete stranger walking in would soon realise that there must be something very special to bind them all together. And there is, not only St Margaret's, but those of you who keep the memories alive. Thank you."
Some of the Girls at the 2008 Reunion
2009 - a special guest and special atmosphere
Maureen's lovely home in Barnet was the venue for a very special reunion, because we had made contact with James Ross, son of Dudley and Janet Hasson (Ross is Janet's second married name), who was researching his background on the Internet and found the SMOGS website. He was clearly thrilled to bits to talk to us about our memories, and to browse through Maureen's collection of SMOGS albums, magazines and other memorabilia.
FEEDBACK FROM THE 2009 REUNION
"I felt it was one of the best SMOGS meetings I have attended, with a lovely atmosphere." (Doreen Stone)
"Maureen, what a lovely kind, happy person you are to have run the Old Girls for so long. A huge thankyou to you and Caroline for all your hard work. We're so lucky to have you both." (Jenny Radcliffe)
"I always leave with my happy memories reinforced." (Gillian Chesterman)
"I had an idea whilst driving home. Having experienced the warmth and happy memories, I thought it would be wonderful if we could recall and write down memories of our friends. This could be shared by their children. We did this in a way for James and I saw the comfort and happiness that he derived from us all from our memories of his father and grandmother." (Marylyn Grange) What do you think of this idea, Girls? Tell the Webmistress on carolinejthomas@yahoo.co.uk
These are the Girls who attended the 2009 reunion: Vanessa Barrett, Marigold Bassett, Jennifer Bateman, Claire Brown, Gillian Chesterman, Norma Feldwick, Jennifer Grange, Jenifer Hooper, Sonia Hughes, Sonia Joyce, Janet Lean, Anne Martin, Anne Morling, Maureen O'Sullivan, Ruth Page, Jenny Radcliffe, Janine Romieu (Junior French Mistress), Doreen Stone, Caroline Thomas, Brenda Williams, Vida Farhad.
And of course, our special guest, whom we appointed Honorary Old Girl -- James Ross, the Principal's youngest son.We had hoped to see Jane Merrow, but she could not come, which disappointed us.
And now, thanks to modern technology and Dominic, the Webmistress' personal computer consultant, we bring you the movie "Deal Reunion 1995" starring the Old Girls and staff who enjoyed tea at Jennifer Bateman's that lovely afternoon . . . . put your loudspeakers on and click on the triangle in the picture below.
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CAST LIST OF 1995 VIDEO
We approach Jennifer Bateman's home 'The Old Cottage' in Sholden, near Deal, as SMOGS girls are arriving. Caroline the Webmistress is in the blue blouse. Indoors, we see Miss Warren chatting to Girls, Claire Brown, Pat Norris in a floral dress chatting to Margaret Harrison, Isobel Drew on the left, with Pat Underwood, and Maureen O'Sullivan in the white blouse. The magazine 'Bygone Kent' is on display (see the History page on this website). More shots of Claire, Pat N andPat U, then Marigold Basset offering a teacup. Into the tea-room and out into the garden where Maggie Harrison is taking a stroll past the old pigsties. Marigold, Pat N and Jennifer discuss the herbaceous border. Isobel studies Caroline's diary selection and art class dfrawings. Shots of Maureen with Delia Collett, Zan Port in a floral dress, big sunglasses and blonde hair, Maggie looking at Caroline's drawing of her sister Liz Harrison. Then Delia and Susan Collett, with Anne Martin in the middle play to camera. Another shot of Miss Warren, and Janet Morris. Outside we see Johanna Lack, Miss Warren and Maggie Harrison, with our host Jennifer walking past.
