Here, Ian Wilmshurst, Headmaster at King's Bruton, talks about his experience of the first OB reunion in New York.

I did not know what to expect with my trip to New York last November. I knew the names of the Old Brutonians attending our function but had not met them before, this was my first time in New York and the first OB event I had attended in the States. Theresa Preston, our Director of Community Development, had worked tirelessly to arrange the invitations and the venue and it is to her great credit that the evening was such a resounding success. It was humbling to meet OBs, their wives and friends, in such an amazing city, and to hear their stories of King’s Bruton and to share their memories. There was a real warmth towards King’s, and all the OBs, from different age groups, mixed naturally together while the ‘non-OB’ guests were also great company.

I gave a short presentation, updating everyone on King’s and the 500^th celebrations, and the OBs particularly liked the aerial photographs of the School in which they could identify their houses. Theresa had arranged for them all to leave with a King’s ‘goody’ bag which included, amongst other gifts, photographs of each OB from their time at King’s. It was great success for all concerned and certainly an OB event to repeated.