TULLYGRAWLEY SCHOOL
One night not very long ago,
I got a short phone call
To say that Winnie Carson
Was arranging a night for us all.
At first I couldn’t think for why,
But when it was explained
What she and Sandy Spence had planned
Tullygrawley School was named.
I didn’t have to think too long,
If I would go or stay,
I just said that I’d love to come
On that seventeenth of May.
I drove into the car park
It was just gone ten to eight.
The place was like the Fair Hill,
Or a massive garden fete.
It seemed that Tullymore would burst,
If this massive crowd go in,
The Hills they did a perfect job
We were like sardines in a tin.
We formed a queue a few miles long,
And headed for the venue,
Bobby Carson took our cash,
James Lamont gave us the menu.
When all the guests were seated,
James Lamont he took the chair;
He thanked us all for coming,
In the absence of the Mayor.
James Kennedy said a word of grace,
Before we had our dinner.
The knives and forks and cutlery,
Soon make an endless dinner.
The menu was extremely nice,
Roast turkey, pea and ham.
A far cry from half a bap
Without a drop of jam.
Frew Rainey played the pipes for us
He mesmerised the place.
And to the joy of all concerned
He played Amazing Grace.
The Mayor now had joined the throng,
And took the chair from James.
We knew that, knowing Sandy’s form
We would have some fun and games.
He read some stories and some poems,
From a very famous book,
“The child and his Pencil,”
It’s worth much more than a look.
He paid tribute to Mrs Kennedy,
And R. L. Russell too,
He explained the way they taught us,
And the things they made us do.
Maurice Allen gave us all a laugh,
When he told about the bap.
It took our memories back again,
To that wee corner shop.
A glance around the crowded room,
Would have made a fellow proud,
To be associated with Tullygrawley,
And that Tullygrawley crowd.
Walter Spence gave us some music,
On his accordion so renowned.
He even put the lights out,
Oh what a lovely sound!
Betty Russell read some stories,
By James Russell who had gone,
But with stories of that type and class,
In our hearts he still lives on.
James Kennedy Junior made a speech,
We listened with intent,
For we knew that every word he said
Was most sincerely meant.
Two tapes were played, it made the night
To hear from far away,
That Willie Stirling and Ian Cochrane,
Were with us on that day.
Then Bobbie Carson shocked us all,
With confessions of the past
The “Yellow jumper” story,
Elizabeth will nail him to the mast.
Winnie also shocked us all a lot,
Of how she mitched the school,
She might have known better,
R. L. Russell was no fool.
Before I close this poem,
I think I must explain
I too have spent a long six hours,
Down Turnamittick Lane.
S.W.
A past pupil of Tullygrawley Public Elementary School
Ballymena Weekly Telegraph 30th May 1985