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Men honoured with parent room dedication by Marcus Priaulx 28 June 2014
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arent yarns have brought action to improve Murgon State School education. Parent Liaison Officer Vera Sullivan said the school had parent gatherings on the second Tuesday of every month. Discussions are held with staff and principal, Pamela O’Loughlin, over a cup of tea and tucker and allow parents to contribute their ideas. Relationships have been formed and suggested actions, including the buying of a bus to collect children, have been acted upon. Now Vera’s father Joe Button and his great mate Bill Roberts have been honoured by having the school’s parent group building named in their honour on the last day of Term 2 (June 27). Joe and Bill, 89, worked together and would visit each others’ homes for tea and a chat. Bill became mayor of Murgon for 30 years, writes Australia’s longest running weekly newspaper column Hub Rattles for the South Burnett Times, is a founding board member for just about every Murgon group running, had a bridge named in his honour and is a
Remembered: Joe Button had a 100-year-old parent meeting room dedicated to him and his mate Bill Roberts at Murgon State School.
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Life Member of Rotary. Vera said her father would have been proud and honoured to have his name beside Bill’s on a plaque that was dedicated to the parents’ meeting room. “He’d love this because Bill was a great friend,” Vera said. “They were like brothers and dad got on really well with our principal Pam and the teachers,” she said. “He’d come and tell the children stories.” Joe wasn’t able to have much schooling of his own because he was sent to work as a boy on nearby stations and the railway. But he made sure every one of his 13 children went to school. “He’d tell all the parents today that they should send their children every day to school; it’s a must,” Vera said. “He believed the only way to defeat racism and prejudice was to become educated.” Principal Pamela O’Loughlin said the school decided to dedicate
the parents meeting room to a nonAboriginal and Aboriginal person because “that’s who we are.
“We work together and we get on together,” she said.
Friends: Prep students Mackayla Horne and Ciiannah Langton show how all Murgon State School students are mates.
Bonded: Murgon State School’s much loved parent liaison officer, nan Vera Sullivan, was honoured to represent her father Joe Button at the unveiling of parents building dedicated to him and his pictured great mate, Bill Roberts. Sitting beside Bill is his wife Mary.
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