Thanjavur: It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for the 200-odd alumni who had gathered at their alma mater for the first annual get-together in Thanjavur’s St Antony’s Higher Secondary School on Sunday (October 30).

“This is the first annual meet of the St Antony’s Alumni Association. The alumni will meet every year during the Diwali vacation. It is organised to honour alumni who have risen to great heights in their chosen fields, and also to motivate the younger generation and cultivate a vision in them,” said Er S Muthukumar, secretary of the association.

“This occasion is like a mother feeling proud of her sons’ achievements,” said Rev Fr J Anthonisamy, headmaster of St Antony’s HSS.

Old students Justice GM Akbar Ali, former judge of the Madras High Court, and Olympian Simon Sundararaj were the guests of honour. The association’s president Dr K Mohamed Ali presided over the function.

There were also old students who came from abroad for the function; K Elangovan, 45, was here from Abu Dhabi and P Abdul Khader, 50, from Dubai.

On behalf of the alumni association, financial assistance was given for special coaching and midday meals to poor students now studying in class ten and twelve. Financial assistance was also extended to three disabled students and to those who secured the first three ranks in the class ten and twelve public examinations, and to the seven players selected to the state football team.

The headmaster and the alumni association’s office-bearers also made a voluntary blood donation, organised by Red Cross Society for the occasion on the school premises.