WHEN 90-year-old Thelma Adair pulled the cord to reveal the original WW1 North Wangaratta State School Honour Board, now taking pride of place at the Wangaratta North CFA Brigade Fire Station, she also unveiled a lot of memories.

Descendants and former students were joined by community and Wangaratta North CFS Brigade members at the unveiling on 14 April to share stories about the 51 men and one woman whose names are on the board, having served in WW1.

Thelma, daughter of Stanley Grossman, her daughter Heather Potter and grandson Zac Adair represented the many families connected with the honour board and the school.

No 246 Private Stanley Grossman joined up in July 1915 and served in 29th Battalion, then the 14th Light Horse.

In January 1916 Stan was posted to Camel Corps at Abbassia.

He was wounded in 1917 and his records show that his term of service was ‘War and 4 months’.

Bernie Boulton, area executive director of the Department of Education, gave an interesting general overview of education in the 1880s.

He said the North Wangaratta State School opened in 1881 and despite the first building burning down before it was occupied, the school serviced the community up until 1969.

Former students including Marg Pullen, John Docker and CFA Commander Peter Bell attended the event.

Mrs Pullen, a former student and relative of Stanley Grossman, was a driving force in the long process of the board’s journey through various locations.

She spoke about the history of the board and thanked Wangaratta RSL and CFA for the wonderful outcome of having the board on public display again, after years of storage.

Brigade member Craig Iskov told the amazing story of a man whose name isn’t on the board but who should be recognised.

He said John Charles Hoad, who was a 6-year-old orphan in Wangaratta, became the first head teacher at the school.

After leaving his teaching career Mr Hoad joined the Victorian Mounted Rifles in 1886, and served with distinction in 1899 in the African War and later in the Japanese-Russo war.

General Sir John Charles Hoad died in 1911 and was buried in St Kilda cemetery.

After RSL ceremonial officer Liz Rouse-Salmon recited the Ode, Wangaratta CFA Group Officer Lachie Gales connected the community spirit of WW1 with volunteering through the ages.

Ken Bell, whose grandfather was Harry Bell, carries on the ethos of volunteering over many decades, being a volunteer in the Wangaratta North Brigade.

Former student and current CFA Commander Peter Bell, then assisted CFA board member Ross Coyle with a surprise presentation of a National Medal for conspicuous service to Wangaratta North CFA captain Mark Conner.

The evening was capped off with a wonderful supper provided by the ladies of “Carrawandi”, a craft group who use the community meeting room in the Wangaratta North Fire Station.

The honour board is now listed on the Virtual War Memorial Australia website and can be viewed here. https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/2654