"She really wanted to go Reid Park before she had to start school," Mrs Brookes, a member of the kindergarten’s original foundation committee, said yesterday.
Her daughter, Susan Abernethy, was one of 10 first-day pupils at the newly constructed Reid Park Kindergarten in Murray St when it was opened on April 10, 1967.
The mother and daughter had the honour of cutting the cake at a reunion celebrating the kindergarten’s 50th anniversary last Friday . Other commemorative events earlier in the week included a tree planting and plaque laying and a gathering of pupils and grandparents.
Mrs Brookes (81) is the only surviving member of the kindergarten’s foundation committee and her now 54-year-old daughter was the only first-day pupil at the reunion.
Looking back 50 years, Mrs Brookes recalled being "bullied" by a friend into joining the committee in the mid-1960s.
The original committee meeting, which she did not attend, was to see if there was enough interest in building a new kindergarten at Reid Park.
Then it took about three years of fundraising activities for the committee to collect more than $9000 so they could get government funding.
Most of the committee were from what was called the Reid block, a state housing area. Their children mainly attended the Mosgiel Central Kindergarten in Irvine St and most of the 10 first-day pupils when Reid Park opened had transferred from there.
The architecturally designed building was situated close to the boundary with Reid Park School, leaving a large amount of ground in front as a play area for the children.
Mrs Brookes’ four older children did not attend the kindergarten, Susan being the first, but two younger children and six grandchildren were pupils.
Describing herself as "just a committee member" early on, Mrs Brookes was later treasurer for eight or nine years and often organised bus and train trips for the children.
She remembers one bus trip to Outram, when they saw cows being milked and calves fed and one of the children saying they got their milk from bottles.
Although not so involved with the kindergarten now, she still called in from time to time to deliver materials for the children to use for activities.
