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The Otago Boys' High School Foundation
PO Box 11,
Dunedin, New Zealand
Tel +64 3 477 2546
Fax +64 3 477 5468
Kiaora,
I am delighted to advise that Sir Russell Coutts (1975-79) has agreed to become ambassador for the Otago Boys’ High School inaugural Annual Appeal.
To have Russell endorse this project is an incredible step forward in what we hope will help the Foundation raise much needed funds for core projects within the school. The appeal will be launched mid May 2011 so do keep your eyes open for this and give generously so we can continue to provide for our Otago Boys’ of the future.
In this months newsletter we release dates surrounding the 1951, 1961 and 1971 Class year reunions. If you started at OB’s in any of these years, do take some time to read this months newsletter to find out more about when these reunions are taking place and what you need to do to ensure your participation.
I would also like to make special mention of those Old Boys’ who have become Foundation Members this month. Interest is again growing after what has been a very difficult half year for the Foundation. With the many disasters that have hit globally and in particular Christchurch and the continued economic situation it has meant the Foundation has suffered in terms of new pledges and donations.
However, I am pleased to report that this is changing and we are moving forward again so to those who have gifted this month and who are still considering – my sincere thanks on behalf of your school and the Foundation Board of Trustees.
If you have been considering becoming a member please contact me personally and I will set up a time to meet face to face to share our vision.
A reminder that the Old Boys’ Society AGM will take place next month so do check that out in this months newsletter.
One story of interest this month is Professor Stanley Paris (1952-55) – this is a man with determination and a zest for life – check it out!
Until the next edition – happy reading and do keep those stories coming in about our Old Boys around the globe so we may share with you all.
Regards,
Douglas Kamo
CEO – OBHS Foundation
The gods were looking down on the 6th OBHS Foundation Ambrose Golf Classic again this year as a stunning day greeted a strong field of 120 players (30 teams).
St Clair Golf course was in pristine condition and with BBQ sizzling, music playing and competitors enjoying each others company we were set for a fierce battle to take out the title and 1st prize worth $2,500.00 - a Queenstown Golfing Getaway sponsored by Tim Kershaw (1996-2000) from Remarkable Golf Tours Queenstown.
The scores recorded reflected the perfect conditions. The results were:
Closest to the Pin
4th Robert Cooke
7th Andrew Maffey
13th Jason Tuttey
16th Ray Grubb
Longest Drive
14th Scott Ede
Team Winners
20th National Bank - Net 61.625
19th Larnach Castle - Net 61.375
18th Financial Planning - Net 61
17th Asteron Life - Net 60.125
16th Harvey Green Wyatt – Net 59.75
15th Otago Boys’ High School – Net 59 OCB
14th Neville Kershaw – Net 59 OCB
13th Quest Apartments – Net 58.375
12th Chisholm Park – Net 57.875
11th Dunedin Casino – Net 57.5
10th Forsyth Barr –Net 57.375 
9th Mike & the Mechanic –Net 57.25
8th Roslyn Physiotherapy – Net 57
7th RD Petroleum –Net 57
6th Peter Stechman – Net 56.875
5th Henry’s Queenstown – Net 56.25
4th Grant Chirnside Southern Realty –Net 55.75
3rd Hope & Sons –Net 55.375
2nd Wattyl NZ & Steve Davie –Net 54.875
1st Cableways – Net 54.5
Murray Galland (1969-73) from Cableways and his team also received the Otago Boys’ High School Foundation golf trophy which was kindly donated by the tournament’s winner in 2006 and 2007 – Kiwi Mortgage Market Ltd.
All 18 holes were sponsored and comments made around the clubhouse confirmed the tournament as one of the most enjoyable events to play in each year.
The Foundation is genuinely appreciative of the support it received from its naming rights, hole and prize sponsors, those who entered teams and who played as individuals, and from the St Clair Golf Club management team and pro shop.
Since the February newsletter, the following Old Boys and connections with the school have made pledges or donations and have been registered as Members of the Foundation:
We are genuinely appreciative of their continued support and belief in the Foundations objectives. If you wish to find out more about how you can make a pledge or donation please click here or contact info@obhsfoundation.co.nz
The World Senior Curling Championships are being held in St.Paul, Minnesotta U.S.A. this year from April 15th-24th and three Old Boys’ have been selected to represent New Zealand.
John Sanders (1968-72) has been in the team since 2005. Nelson Ede (1968-72) since 2008 & Richard Morgan (1969-73) was in the team from 2007 to 2009 and has again been selected for 2011.
Locally, John plays for Alexandra, Richard for the Alpine Club (Omakau/Becks) and Nelson for Kiwi (Naseby).
The men leave New Zealand on April 6th for Vancouver where they will train and play in a mixed tournament with the N.Z Senior Ladies team. The N.Z. Men’s team will also play an exhibition match against the Canadian Senior Ladies team in preparation for the World Championships.
Two of the N.Z. Senior Ladies are Wendy Becker - wife of Peter and Caroline Cooney from Alexandra. Caroline is an old Otago Girls High student.
We wish them well…
Search Job Starts with the UnknownA Dunedin police officer, Brian Benn (1973-76) who was for six days in charge of the search effort inside Christchurch's central city cordon, says he was only too pleased to have had the skills to help bring some order to the chaos.
After spending the first five days after the quake in charge of body removal from sites in the city to the morgue at Burnham, experienced search-and-rescue man a senior sergeant with the Dunedin police, volunteered to oversee the search operation inside the central city cordon area.
He was in charge of the massive central city search operation from February 26, five days after the earthquake, until the rescue mission was officially moved to a recovery mission last Friday. Working from four fire-service command units at agency command HQ in Latimer Square, Brian’s job was to ensure every building and rubble pile within the 113-block cordon was clear of people, alive or dead, before the cordoned area could be reduced.
The task involved co-ordinating 35 search teams working within the cordon during the day, and 15 teams working through the night, as well as police officers working with each search team, police victim-recovery dog teams, engineers, locksmiths, SPCA staff and others assisting with the search effort.
Back in Dunedin this week, Brian said the job largely involved organising, delegating and troubleshooting to ensure teams' access to properties was smooth, and they had everything they required to search safely and properly. Searchers meant all those in all teams, from the "heavy" search teams of national and international urban search-and-rescue (USAR) organisations, to "light" search teams from agencies such as the Red Cross.
Information from each team was entered into a spreadsheet, which was transferred on to a GIS (geographic information system) map of the area, which showed which buildings had been searched. The work was made more difficult by the rubble, which could not be attributed to certain addresses for recording, and continuing aftershocks, which often resulted in new piles of rubble that then needed to be checked.
Having joined the search effort after initial searches were done, his task was to manage the undertaking and completion of the search to a standard where he was confident the cordoned area was clear and could at least be reduced, so some people could get back into their businesses and homes.
The search was a detailed and complex process, managed by dividing the work into "bite-sized chunks", Brian said. After buildings were stickered green, yellow or red, teams would enter them, with an engineer if they saw a safety risk. They would check each property visually, physically, and then with one of nine police victim-recovery dogs, which can detect a body up to a metre underneath debris.
Buildings were searched up to three times, before being marked off, on the building and on the map, as clear. Dealing with piles of rubble was more difficult, because they did not have addresses, and the marking of them and recording of whether they had been searched became an issue.
Each pile of rubble had to be visually checked, physically checked, then have a victim-recovery dog go over it. It then had to be completely deconstructed and moved 3m before it was ticked off as being clear; its "checked and clear" status signified by a spraypainted circle around it.
It was a relatively simple system, but when you had such a big area, there were inevitably places that had to be redone, just to have the confidence they were done properly, Brian said. Teams had tried to be as sensitive as they could to people's property, while trying to complete the task at hand as fast as they could.
The job was immense and demanding, but he had enjoyed the challenge, he said. "I like running searches. Most police like a good whodunnit; I like a good where-is-he." He had done some USAR training, but that usually involved searching for just one person; nothing on the scale of the search in Christchurch.
The job involved a big responsibility both to be confident all buildings and piles had been cleared, and to try to ensure the security of people's properties. The searchers were lucky to have had available the technology on board the fire service's command units, which were excellent for information management and made mapping the search area much easier, he said.
Although he had departed Christchurch after the official rescue effort became one of a recovery, the work on the area inside the remaining cordon continued. There, many buildings were so dangerous the search effort was hampered by the need to semi-demolish parts of buildings before searchers could safely enter the rest.
He was scheduled to return to Christchurch this week but, with the recovery effort downgraded slightly, he was at present on standby if needed. Many people in Dunedin wanted to go to Christchurch to help, and he was pleased he got the opportunity, he said. "It's good to be able to help bring some order to chaos. That's what we do in the emergency services: we are always working from the unknown towards the known."
Dr Stanley Paris (1952-55), aged 73 is not letting age dampen his enthusiasm for adventure and challenging records.
This year, Stanley is planning another attempt to become the oldest man to swim the English Channel, and has engaged New Zealander Bruce Farr to work on the design of a yacht in which he hopes to challenge the record for a non-stop solo world circumnavigation from Bermuda.
The 150-day record for the latter event was set by 54-year-old American Dodge Morgan in 1986 on American Promise, in a campaign managed by New Zealand-born Grant Robinson. He said his boat would be called Kiwi Spirit.
Stanley, a physiotherapist who lives in Florida, where he founded the University of St Augustine, has made unsuccessful attempts to swim the channel in 2008 and 2009, pulling out because of cramp and nausea.
He has taken the "physician heal thyself" approach to these difficulties, including undergoing physiotherapy, taking medication and making dietary changes. His first attempt this year will be in early August, with a second date booked for September. By September he will be 74.
The oldest person to swim the channel was George Brunstad, of the United States, who completed his swim in 15hr 59min in 2004 when he was 70. While Stanley’s 2008 and 2009 swims were unsuccessful, interest in them raised $US55,000 for physical therapy research, he said.
This time round, if he succeeds on the first swim, he will use the second swim as a research fund-raiser.
Good luck Stanley.
Lawrence Sprints Away With 100m, 200m TitlesTim Lawrence (2007-) was crowned the sprint king after winning the senior boys 100m-200m double at the Caledonian Ground recently. Tim (17) won the 100m in 11.45sec and the 200m in 23.48sec at the 85th annual Otago-Southland secondary schools athletics championships.
Tim is rated highly at national level and was a member of the New Zealand team at last year's Oceania championships in Sydney. He is coached by New Zealand's top sprint coach, Brent Ward, and demonstrated the value of this instruction by getting a jump on the field at the start in both races.
In the 100m, he led the field by 50cm at halfway and kept his composure when challenged by Kane Attrill (King's) in the last 40m.
Tim led the field round the bend and into the straight in the 200m. Jack Allan (St Kevin's) challenged him over the last 60m and closed the gap when finishing runner-up in 23.90sec.
The record had been held by Filipo Levi (1997-98) since 1993. Dean Rusbatch (2007) extended the open boys hammer throw record by 2.70m with his throw of 50.46m.
Promising start to Olympic Aims Each year, up to 10 Otago athletes are given the opportunity to be included in the Academy Otago Talent Xcelerator Programme, a joint venture between the Academy of Sport South Island and the Otago Community Trust, which provide performance services and support to aspiring athletes on the way to the top of their chosen sports.
Nick Elder (2007) writes;“I would like to be a Black Stick. What I really like about what I’m doing is that I am playing with and against the top hockey players in New Zealand, in and above my age, and it’s good competition. I have also played against overseas teams.
I am studying year 13 at Otago Boys High School doing NCEA level 3 and I hope to go to university once I leave school or get into a trade and then own my own business. In the short term, my sporting goal is to make the Junior Black Sticks (NZ U21s) and stay in the team and attend the 2013 junior world cup. My long-term objective is to make the Black Sticks and go to the Olympics.
My greatest sporting achievement so far has been making the NZ under-18s when I was 16 in 2009 and being re-selected for it in 2010. In 2009 we played Queensland U19s and won the series 3-0 and in 2010 we won the series 2-1. Making the Southern National Hockey League (NHL) team in 2010 and making my debut when I was 16 has been a high for me. Last year was a big year, because I played my first national under-18s, 21s and NHL tournaments.
My key achievements to date include making the New Zealand under-18s in 2009 and 2010, the Southern under-21s and NHL 2010, the Otago under-18s in 2010, where we placed second at nationals, and the Otago under-16s in 2007, 2008, and 2009, when I captained the team. I have been in the Otago Boys 1st XI in 2008, 2009, and 2010, competing at the Rankin Cup and will be doing it again this year.
I’ve played premier men’s hockey for the City Highlanders in 2009 and 2010 and will be playing for Albany this year. My biggest event in the next 12 months will be the national under-21s tournament, in Dunedin in May.
Over the last six months I have been working on my skills and strength and I’m coached by Dave Ross. I’m expected to train 12 or more hours a week and the Academy Otago Programme is providing me with a training programme, which will help because strength is an area I need to work on and this programme is giving me every opportunity to improve by working with a trainer at the gym.
The Otago Boys High School rowing club would like to makecontact with all past rowersthat have rowedfor the school since its inception. We remainto be the only state funded schoolwith its own shed and rowing facilities, and as such we would like to keep you informedof developments and successes as we continue to grow the sport in the school.
We are also privilegedto continue tohave the services of Fred Strachan, who this year completes his 60th year of coachingrowing.
Fred’s contribution at all levelsacross New Zealand has made a significant impact on the sport from Olympiansto novices and many in-between! Thank you Fred.
To register your details please email mike.waddell@op.ac.nz advising the following details:
Full Name, Class Year, Email Address, Contact Numbers, Year(s) thatyou rowed, successes that you would like to tell us about and any great storiesthat you may have.
We look forward to hearing from you
Mike Waddell
Chair Parents Rowing Committee
60th, 50th and 40th Class Year Reunions will be held later in the year for the Class Years of 1951, 1961 & 1971 (respectively) which will see many Old Boys to return to the school to reconnect with their alma mater.
Reunions have been very successful at the school since 2005 with decade reunions having now been held for the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s. Class Year Reunions have been held for 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 with the 1962 boys getting together in 2007 along with 1964-67 year groups.
However, the 1951 and 1961 Class years are yet to meet so the Foundation is excited about bringing these groups back together. Equally so, we are looking forward to establishing our ‘40 Years On’ reunions starting with the 1971 Old Boys.
If you started Otago Boys’ High School in the 3rd form during these years make contact with the Foundation office to register your interest to attend.
Calling all Old Boys’ from the Class Year of 1951 to join us for two exciting days catching up with old school friends and reconnecting with your school. Programme will be launched shortly but do register early for this event.
Dates have been set for 15 & 16 August 2011. Please register your interest by clicking here
The year which saw the baby boom peak with 65,000 babies being born in New Zealand. It was the end of capital punishment in New Zealand although the cane was still being flung by Rector Edward (Teddy) Aim, and the first Golden Kiwi Ticket was sold. But it was the year those in the Class Year of 1961 started at OB’s and it is time to bring you all back.
Dates have been set for 30 Sept & 1 Oct 2011. Please register your interest by clicking here
John Lennon, James Taylor and Michael Jackson are all at the top of their game musically, Apollo 14 landed on the moon and an anti Vietnam War protest saw 35,000 take to the New Zealand Streets. Some of you may even have wagged school to attend the march but we hope you won’t wag this event.
Dates have been set for 9 & 10 Sept 2011. Please register your interest by clicking here
IN ALL CASES WE ARE LOOKING FOR TWO OLD BOYS’ FROM EACH CLASS YEAR TO ASSIST WITH FINDING FELLOW CLASS MATES OF WHOM WE HAVE NO CONTACT DETAILS FOR.
IF YOU CAN ASSIT PLEASE CONTACT DEBBIE BILLOWS AT admin@obhsfoundation.co.nz
The Otago High School Old Boys’ Society will hold its Annual General Meeting in the Shand building at the school on Thursday 14th of April.
The meeting will start at 12.30pm and all Old Boys are invited to attend.
The Society is on the look out for new blood for its committee. The role of the committee rests mainly with assisting the school in such areas as sourcing and providing speakers for year groups and career guidance. A part is also played with the school’s community reading programme and financial help for boys facing hardship in attending the Mt Aspiring Lodge.
Any Old Boy willing to join the committee or help with these programmes should contact Society President Brent Alexander on bsa@thedesignstudio.co.nz or attend the Annual General Meeting.
This will prove popular so register early!
Dunedin Casino will host our 'Young Boys' After Work Detention' in April with a Blackjack Tournament. Numbers are limited so be one of thefirst to register and you could beplayingfor the title of 'OB's Gambling Shark 2011'. If you've never played before - don't worry, the team at Dunedin Casino will be there to lend expert advice.Get along for a fun, friendly, competitive evening and support your Old Boys' network.
When: Wednesday 6 April 2011
Time: 5.30pm - 7.00pm
Where: Dunedin Casino, 118 High Street, Dunedin
Cost: No Cost. Free drink on arrival. Nibbles will be provided. Cash bar will operate.
To register for any or all of these events please email admin@obhsfoundation.co.nz.
REGISTERED SINCE LAST NEWSLETTER 1
TOTAL REGISTRATIONS TO DATE 456
MAKE SURE YOU ARE PART OF THIS
HISTORICAL EVENT BY REGISTERING NOW!
Contact the Foundation admin@obhsfoundation.co.nz with ‘Register 150th’ in the subject line or a call +64 3 477 2546, and leave a message. Include your full name and years of attendance.
As Fuel Prices Continue To Soar Out Of Control The OBHS Foundation Has An Exclusive Fuel Card Offer Available To All Old Boys, Past Staff And Their Immediate Family Members.
All Foundation card holders receive 5 cents per litre discount to the national pump price for petrol and diesel. Discounted petrol and diesel can be purchased at all BP, RD Petroleum and most Gasoline Alley retail sites along with Truck Stops.
HOW IT WORKS:
If today the national price for a litre of 91 octane is $2.159 cents, the cost to you would be $2.109 cents. If on the West Coast 91 is priced at $2.389 cents per litre - those with Foundation fuel cards will still pay only$2.109 cents per litre. That’s a 28 cpl saving!
This offer is open to all Otago Boys' High School - Old Boys', staff, parents of a student and their immediate family members so please pass this on to a New Zealand based family member you think may well benefit from joining the program.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE AND START SAVING ON ALL YOUR FUEL PURCHASES!
Individual Application – Click here
Limited Companies Application – Click here
Ray Clark (1935-39) passed away peacefully on 14 March 2011 in Timaru.
Mark Lunn (1936-40) passed away peacefully on 16 March 2011 in Dunedin.
Rob McKinney (1961-63) passed away on 17 March 2011 in Dunedin.
Newsletter researched and compiled by Debbie Billows and Douglas Kamo
The OBHS Foundation greatly acknowledges the support of the Otago Daily Times
from which many of the photo’s in this publication are sourced.
The Otago Boys’ High School Foundation acknowledges the assistance it receives from
Konica Minolta with all of its office printing requirements
