Mrs Edwards presenting the Book of Verse to Tony Piccolo MP.
A book of poetry written by Year 7 students at the former Evanston PriMary School (EPS) some 45 years ago has been donated to the Junior School at the Gawler & Districts B-12 College.
The Book of Verse was unearthed by local resident and parent Mrs Margaret Edwards.
Mrs Edwards felt that the book should be kept for the benefit of future generations at the successor of Evanston PriMary School, namely the Junior School at Gawler and District B-12 College.
On Friday, the book of verse was presented to student representatives from the Junior School at Gawler and District College, by Mr Piccolo on behalf of the Edwards family.
“The book of verse has travelled a full circle and has now gone back home,” Mr Piccolo said.
”Poetic justice for a book of verse,” quipped Mr Piccolo.
Mrs Edwards’ children attended Evanston PriMary School and she was pleasantly surprised when she saw the book of poetry at a second hand Market.
Mrs Edwards brought the existence of the book of poems to the attention of local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo who’s poem about Captain Cook appears in it.
Mr Piccolo said he was surprised to see the book had survived all these years and was still in reasonable condition.
The book of poems titled A Book of Verse was prepared during the 1971 book week and won the “best class” award in that year.
The book contains 19 poems and accompanying illustrations covering such diverse topics as spiders, cow girls, witches, pirates, and the Australian bush.
Mr Piccolo said the poems reflect the common experience of children with some reflecting the issues of the day of another era.“The poems are about 45 years old and talk about issues and values of the late ‘60’s,’ Mr Piccolo said.“My own poem about Captain Cook is no accident since 1970 was the Bicentenary of Captain Cook’s visit to Australia and I had developed a great interest in his travels around the world.”Mr Piccolo said the book is such a great artefact of the former Evanston PriMary School that he has had the book professionally scanned and uploaded on to his website to make it available to the families of other students whose poems appear in the book.
“The book will be of great interest to the students and their families and might spark some great memories,” said Mr Piccolo.
Poems by Lesley’s Boutique owner Lesley Hatcher, Kangaroo Flat farmer Brenton Folland and Willaston resident Paul Modra also appear in the book.
Mr Piccolo said the poems can be accessed online at his website at http://www.tonypiccolo.org/publications-1