Community, family, and a love of early learning will all be celebrated at Bracken Ridge Kindergarten’s 50th birthday this month.
The kindy will be commemorating the milestone with a family fun day, photos from the past half century, and lots of fun activities.
Current parent volunteer, Paige McDonald, said the kindergarten held a special place in the hearts of local families.
“Life is so fast -paced, and this kindy is a beautiful, slower-paced place,” she said. “The kids play outdoors a lot, they walk to the library – it honestly feels like my own childhood, and that’s hard to find these days.
“This feels like an authentic kindy, it’s creative, the kids come here to learn and have fun.”
During the early 1970s, a group of families started campaigning for a kindergarten in the area, and after a series of meetings with state and local governments, land was gazetted for the project.
However, the bank wanted guarantees from residents before funding the project, and families worked hard to raise the necessary funds.
“It was about 10 families all together, and lots of those families are still around, they all had to put in a guarantee – it was about $10,000 or $15,000, which at that time, was a lot of money,” Paige said.
“They did all kinds of things for fundraising; they bought giant barrels of wine and poured them into individual bottles to sell, they potted palms and plants from their own gardens, they did crochet, all kinds of things.
Fifty Years of Community and Early Learning
“I believe some of the dads actually helped build the kindy itself.”
Paige added the kindy had now taught multiple generations of the same family.
“Grandparents are now dropping off their grandkids at the kindergarten, and they used to drop their own kids off there,” she said.
“It’s so lovely to see and it still has that real community feel.”
Past families, staff, and the wider community are all invited to the 50th birthday celebration, which will feature a gallery walk of photos from days gone by, as well as a plaque being unveiled by Bracken Ridge Ward Councillor Sandy Landers.
Buy a raffle ticket here before the family fun day, go to and share your memories of the kindy here.
Bracken Ridge Kindergarten 50th Birthday
- Saturday, 24 October, 9am-noon
- Bracken Ridge Kindergarten
- 221 Barrett Street, Bracken Ridge
Read more stories from the Sandgate Guide print magazine here:
- Bramble Buzz: Updates from the Community
- Organic Gardening in October
- Fish of the Month: Fringefin Trevally
- Brisbane Writers Festival Returns With Big Stories
- 20 Minutes to Make a Difference: Join The Aussie Bird Count
- Bald Hills State School Celebrates 160 Year Milestone
- A Community that Grows Together
- Bulldogs On a Winning Streak
- Untreated Sewage Released into Local Waterways
- A Thank You 14 Years in the Making
- Indonesian Food, Culture and a Brighter Future for Kids
- Deagon: “A Place of Beauty and A Joy Forever”
- Students Find Their Voice
- Mad Mob is Making it Matter
- Mulbeam Park Playground Upgrade
- Celebrating a Century of Seale
- Start Your Day With Qigong By The Bay
- Artists Open Their Doors Along Sandgate’s Creative Trail
- A Poem on Common Complications: My Laptop
