The reunions have been annual events since 2006, but occurred only once a decade before that.

The former residents will take a bus trip to Queenscliffe on the weekend, in memory of the trips they took each Christmas to the sea-side town.

Then on Tuesday a second reunion will take place at the Ballarat Gold Museum, which will include a lot of old memorabilia from the orphanage and provides a more traditional setting for a catch-up.

Heritage co-ordinator Sharon Guy said the trips were always good fun and were an example of Ballarat’s “living history”.

“We’ve got a few first-timers coming this year which will be good,” she said.

“The noise coming from the room is just a loud buzz – everyone is just so excited to see each other again.”

The reunions are often a place of laughter, as former residents reflect on some of the more scandalous activities they got up to “back in the day”.

Val Pascoe was one such boy, who says he didn’t deserve an award he won in 1949.

“I was named “most honourable boy” and had my name put up on the honour board at the time,” he said.

“The only thing was, about two weeks before that I was in the store room stealing a can of condensed milk.”

“So I probably shouldn’t have got that award.”

Delacombe man Bill Price, who was at the orphanage between 1940 and 1952, said there was always a few laughs at the reunions, but also a few sombre memories.

“One day we were down the beach at Queenscliffe, and I decided I would bury myself up to my waist in the sand,” he said.

“When it was time to go, everyone got on the bus but I couldn’t move – I couldn’t get out of the sand.”

Mr Price said he was taken to Geelong, where they diagnosed the then-teenager as having polio.

For more information on the reunions, call Sharon Guy on 5337 3392.