Historic walk retraced

By Melissa Meehan
ST Joseph’s School in Yarra Junction will celebrate 50 years since opening the school in Warburton in August.
The school was named after the order of Sisters of St Joseph, and begun with just two teachers Sister Gertrude and Jerome.
For two years, Father Cerini, the parish priest, drove the school bus to Yarra Junction every day to collect students that lived too far away from the school to walk.
When Fr Cerini could no longer drive the bus he walked the school’s 35 children to and from Warburton twice a day for over 10 days after the Federal government’s refusal to allow the students to use the local bus service.
After 13 days, students were able to travel to school on the bus.
In 1987, St Joseph’s School was opened and in 1992 the Warburton campus closed.
Left empty, the Warburton building faced an uncertain future, until 37 people walked in searing heat and a pall of smoke from Yarra Junction to the Cerini Centre in Warburton on Sunday 10 December 2006, to raise money for the centre named in Fr Cerini’s honour.
The walk retraced the steps of Fr Cerini and students who did the walk over 13 days in 1966 as a protest against the government’s refusal to allow Catholic school children on the local bus system.
Maxine Foster (Lord) who took part in the original walk returned to the valley to walk with school-chum Donna Peacock.
“You had to be crazy to do it, but it was wonderful,” she said.
“It had a really nice feel about it. To see all those people from way back then and to know there is still such a sense of community up there was wonderful.”
Peter Summers, chairman of the Cerini Centre committee said the walk raised $800.
“I thought on Sunday if we got a dozen people we would be lucky so it was a nice surprise on such a bad day to get as many as we did,” he said.
“We had about 60 people at the centre after the walk having a good yarn, reminiscing and looking at the old photos, including the ones of Fr Cerini and students on the original walk.”