It was 1969, our first year out of school and into the big wide world. A time when young people around the world were challenging the status quo – and a man walked on the moon.

Through the 1950s and early 1960s many school leavers went to the school’s formal Old Girls’ Association debutante ball. Girls dressed in best formal white, complete with long white gloves and were presented by their proud fathers to the Head of the Board of Governors, as a symbol of making their ‘debut into society’. By 1969 very few girls wanted to be ‘debutantes’ at this ball. Most of us just weren’t interested in the ‘debut’ – or a ‘dry’ alcohol-free ball. So, a small group of us decided to organise our own do. We called ourselves the Young Old Girls (YOG), booked a large venue and the best dance band of the day, organised food and drinks and advertised madly. We counted on selling enough tickets to pay our bills. Some of our parents worried we’d end up in debt.

We flooded places like the university with hand-drawn posters we, and friends, produced. You couldn’t go to a university lecture without seeing one. Tickets began to sell and we were away. We had our ball (a ‘wet’ one), and it was a really good night.

Against expectations we made a profit. We hadn’t intended to so we decided to gift something to the school with our windfall.

One of our group, Susan Battye, had the idea to buy a painting. Her first thought was one by well-known New Zealand painter Doris Lusk. Susan talked to a friend keen on painting, and with a good knowledge of New Zealand painters. He suggested a Colin McCahon painting instead. Susan wrote to McCahon and got a very encouraging reply, saying he would tell his dealer to give us a good deal. And he did! By October 1970 we had acquired our McCahon: North Otago landscape, number 19, painted with synthetic polymer on hardboard.

Later in 1970 two of the Young Old Girls – Susan Battye and Jan Hardie – presented the painting to a bemused school at assembly. Fittingly, Val Heinz, the very supportive Head of Art, was there. We envisioned the gift stimulating discussion of both the painting and of art in general.

Colin McCahon is now widely acknowledged as New Zealand’s foremost painter. The school’s painting has a very good provenance as Susan presented the school with the letter from Colin McCahon, in his distinctive handwriting, along with the letter from his then dealer, Barry Lett. Both are framed and hang alongside the painting.

In 2017 I went along with an old CGHS school friend to have a look at the painting again. When I realised the fiftieth anniversary of our YOG ball that led to the painting’s purchase was coming up, I felt we should mark it in some way. I contacted some of the other YOGs and they were keen.

As 1 August 2019 happens to be the one hundredth anniversary of Colin McCahon’s birth, it’s an appropriate time to relate the story behind the gift and to reconnect with and appreciate the painting.

On 2 August, some of the ‘69 YOG ball organisers will come along to school. The McCahon painting will be on display in the Performing Arts Theatre. We encourage any student or cargiver who wants to get a good look at the painting and hear more about the story to come along. We look forward to meeting you.