By Lachlan Onions
EAST Gambier will hold a reunion this weekend to celebrate its historic premierships of the past.
The weekend’s proceedings will start with a meet and get-together at East Gambier Football Club at 6pm tonight.
This will be followed by a luncheon at midday on Saturday to celebrate the anniversaries of the 1972 and 1982 premierships.
“There are 100 people booked in for the luncheon but there will probably be a few more who turn up,” East Gambier life member Peter Dempsey said.
He said East gambier will celebrate the iconic years of Gary Lazarus and enhance the status as the icon he was in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Dempsey said anyone associated with Lazarus will attend the event and will celebrate each of the premierships he won at the helm.
Aside from the 1972 and 1982 premierships, East Gambier will also celebrate the 1965 premiership and 1974 Under 18 premiership.
Dempsey said of the premierships which are being celebrated on the weekend, the 1972 title was the most significant as it was the first of the Lazarus dynasty.
Lazarus joined East Gambier from the Fitzroy Lions in 1971 as a playing coach and the Bulldogs made the grand final in his first year but lost to West Gambier.
However, his side bounced back the next year to win the holy grail and began a long line of success for the club.
“In the next 17 years, East Gambier played in 14 grand finals, which is quite amazing,” Dempsey said.
Of those 14 grand finals appearance, the Bulldogs won seven.
