Newsletter - April 2006

13/04/2006

The Foundation is nearing the end of its first year with 31 May signalling the completion of the first 12 months of operation.

At that point is seems likely an encouraging initial report will be presented with significant progress on all fronts – the raising of finance for the Foundation’s future funding programmes within the school, the tracking of Old Boys, the development and growth of an exciting ‘calendar of events’, and a higher and more positive profile for the school than at any stage in its previous 143-year history.

We are taking the stance of ‘walking before we run’ and there is a huge amount of work still to be undertaken before the Foundation can lay claim to being in a position to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. However, we believe what has been achieved to date is more than sustainable and it is with a highly enthusiastic outlook that we view the future.

The Foundation Board again pays tribute to all Foundation Members, who have shown an early faith in our ideals by making a tangible contribution, and is also indebted to those who have indicated a verbal pledge. There is an enormous amount of interest in the work of the Foundation and we are grateful to those who have already grasped the ideals we proposed upon establishment in June last year.

Foundation members:

Since the March newsletter, the following Old Boys have made pledges or donations and have been registered as Members of the Foundation –

Jack Chin (1943-47), Senior Fellow

Don Galland (1935-36), Friend

School news:

Term two dates –

May 2nd Anzac Service

May 11th, 12th & 13th School Production – The Sound of Music (school auditorium)

May 18th Parents’ Association fundraiser – Year 9 & 10 boys selling scratchie cards in a street-day appeal

May 24th Otago cross country championships

May 31st Southland Boys’ interschool (home)

June 14th Christ’s College interschool (home)

June 30th King’s High interschool (away)

For the fourth successive year the First cricket XI has qualified to represent the Otago/Southland region in the national Gillette Cup finals, beating John McGlashan, Kavanagh and King’s in making the country’s top eight. The finals will be contested in Palmerston North in December.

Old Boys’ tracking:

A massive amount of energy is currently being expended in the tracking of the 16,000 (or so) Old Boys who are alive.

In recent weeks more than 1,000 have been traced and their accurate and up-to-date contact details are now entered on the Foundation’s database. However, we are still a long way behind the eight ball when it comes to the assembly of a complete list.

If there are any Old Boys who have some spare time and who would be prepared to commit to a few hours a week to tracing their fellow alumni, please contact me.

The Foundation has the name of every boy to have attended Otago Boys’ from 1863 to 2005 – but much of our contact detail is sadly astray with a good deal of the information having been loaded from the 1963 centennial register and the 1988 125th register.

We will pay for all telephone calls and also offer remuneration for such an undertaking.

Old Boys’ Society:

The Society coming under the administrative umbrella of the Foundation has opened the way for a revamping of a Society Life Membership option.

Under consideration is the offering of Life Membership status for a one-off subscription fee of $300 to $350.

Taking up a Society Life Membership certainly won’t preclude Old Boys then being involved as Members of the Foundation, but might well be the level at which some choose to sit.

Proposed benefits of the Life Membership include priority booking rights and discounted prices for the Foundation’s calendar of events (speakers, lunches, dinners and other entertainment opportunities), a high-quality certificate and a Life Member’s pin.

A growing number of Old Boys have enquired about such an option and the Foundation is keen to receive feedback on such a proposal. Please reply by return email or feel free to give me a call (03/4778977 or 027/4370335) with your reaction to taking up such an option. Your thinking on what else could be offered in the Life Membership ‘pack’ will also be enthusiastically received.

Marj Higgs:

Long-serving Old Boys’ Society Dunedin branch secretary Marj Higgs has retired after 27 years of loyal and unstinting service.

Very much the glue which held ‘head office’ together, Marj worked tirelessly through the years in producing the Society’s bi-annual newsletter, in assisting with the organisation and staging of Society’s lunches and functions, and in maintaining scrupulous records.

She leaves a legacy which will be difficult to match and we wish her a long and happy retirement, confident in the knowledge of sterling service to the School and Society. (Also see Old Boys' Society link on the tool bar)

Old Boys’ news:

The annual Otago Boys’ vs King’s High Old Boys’ bowls tournament was contested on 30th March, with King’s again coming out on top.

While the five matches were squared at 2½ each, King’s retained their title with a 95/77 points differential.

Playing for the Old Boys were Bill Butler, Leadman Ibbotson, Neill McGregor, John Hunter, Murray Smith, Robert Black, Alan Burgess, Colin Woodhead, John Hutchison, Les Simpson, Murray Wyatt, Lindsay McGavin, Graham Campbell, Lindsay Dempster, Les Cantwell, Jim Larkins, Lester Watts, Peter McMahon, Lyn Jones and Murray Robinson.

Congratulations:

Rowers David Waddell and Grant Fahey, mentioned in the March newsletter for winning the South Island Under 19 title and being awarded the Lindstrom Trophy, continue to make the headlines. David and Grant have been invited to the national Under 19 trials, having finished a close second to the Hamilton Boys’ crew in the Maadi Cup pair’s race.

And 2003 Head Boy Hamish Bond (1999-2003) is now a member of the New Zealand elite rowing squad after strong and consistent performances in the last two years. Hamish is a member of the men’s coxless four with another Old Boy, Carl Meyer (1995-99)

School lessons will take a backseat for Adam Alexander in early July with his focus on the international Piping Hot Summer programme in Canada. Adam, the lead drummer in the Speight’s City of Dunedin Pipe Band, won a scholarship to the course earlier in the year, heading off 45 others drummers from around the country. The course will be staged during the first week of July in Vernon, British Colombia.

Business news:

Turners Auctions, under guidance of Chief Executive Graham Roberts (1969-72) will shortly launch on line vehicle auctions.

‘Turners Live’ will be launched to trade customers before being offered to the company’s 16 nationwide public auction sites over the next three months. On line bidders will then be able to compete with live bidders at an individual site.

Where are they now?

Matthew Heal (1992-96) is now involved in one of the most strenuous but exciting roles imaginable – working with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) in London as that city looks to stage the 2012 Olympic Games. After completing a BA in Geography and BSc in Land Planning at Otago University, Matthew was then accepted into the Masters of Urban Design programme at Oxford Brookes University. Near the end of this study, he won an internship with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, a government organising driving higher standards in the quality of development throughout Britain. Matthew was then appointed to the project management team to work on the Olympic Park master plan. Now with the ODA, Matthew is playing a part in the development – from scratch – of a 700 acre park in an area of major deprivation and with a chequered industrial history and laden with tube lines, overhead high voltage cables, train routes, highways and rivers! Matthew reports the project is progressing with an immoveable deadline. If you’re thinking of going to the 2012 Games, then Matthew would be a useful contact.

Charles Matthews (1992-96, Head of House ’96, Best All Round Boy ’96) now flies Tornadoes for the Royal Air Force in Britain. Charles began his flying career with the Royal New Zealand Air Force before moving to London almost five years ago.

John Blaikie (1987-91) has followed in the footsteps of younger brother Duncan (1989-93) in being elected captain of the Cambridge University rugby team. Dunedin led the Light Blues in 2002 and John has played a pivotal role in the continued success of Cambridge over the last two years, scoring a try in the most recent match against arch-rival Oxford in the 124th clash between the two at Twickenham.

Reunions:

A reunion of the Upper Sixth of 1958 is planned for October 2006. Time has marched on since the last official gathering of this group in 1980 and an energetic committee is hard at work organising this year’s assembly. A get-together is planned for the Dunedin Town Hall on Friday, 27th October with the MC being a member of that alumni group, Dunedin’s Mayor Peter Chin. Various other functions are scheduled for both the Saturday and Sunday. The initial point of contact for those wishing to attend is Keith Buswell (03/4544815 or keith@buswell.co.nz).

Recent deaths (and not so recent):

Arnold Thornicroft (1933-36), died at Ross Home, Dunedin, on 21 February 2006. Arnold was well known as an accountant, political enthusiast, poet, reader and student. After leaving school he worked as an insurance clerk and studied book-keeping and mercantile law at night classes. After serving in the Second World War, Arnold graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Canterbury), set up as a public accountant and also ventured into wholesaling and retailing. He also spent many years as a lay preacher, secondary school teacher and polytechnic lecturer. After his wife’s death in 1997, Arnold returned to university study, taking papers in economic issues, macroeconomics and the economic history of New Zealand. Thoughtful and socially conscientious throughout his life, his family put in an apology for him at his own funeral, Arnold having donated his body to the University of Otago’s medical school for research into Parkinson’s disease. He is survived by his four children, 16 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Raymond Mahony (1932-34), died at Hutt Hospital, 14 March 2006. Raymond was Head Prefect in 1934 and captain of both the First Rugby XV and First Cricket XI that year, having been the Senior Athletic Champion in 1933. He went on to play first-class rugby for Otago (1936), Southland (1938-40, captain in 1940) and Canterbury (1941, while at Burnham Military Camp) with South Island honours in 1938 and an All Black trial in 1939. Raymond served in the Second World War.

Arthur Penny (1928-29) died in Christchurch, 10 April 2005. Arthur’s widow, Bunty, has written telling the Foundation a little of his history. Arthur left school after two years, aged 14, having obtained a job as office boy for the Dunedin branch of the Atlas Assurance Company. His wages were 7/6d with 5/- of that, those being the Depression Years, going to his mother for board. He continued his education at night school until he was 18, passing all of his insurance exams. In 1939, Arthur was sent to Hamilton as the branch manager where he stayed for more than 20 years before, after several mergers, he moved to Christchurch as the assistant manager of the Royal Exchange Atlas. A further merger occurred with Guardian, at which time Arthur was appointed manager of the Royal Guardian Exchange, Christchurch branch. His is a story typical of the time – an office boy who rose to the top.

Do you know where these people are?:

The Foundation has recently lost contact with the following people, whose postal addresses have changed –

Geoffrey Bennett (1971-72), formerly 1 Culloden Street, Kaikorai, Dunedin
Murray Dick (1976-80), formerly 1 Cromwell Street, Wakari, Dunedin

Any contact details for the above would be appreciated.

Please continue to pass on our website address – www.obhsfoundation.co.nz - or my telephone numbers to all Old Boys you know. If you haven’t updated your own details, please also use our site.

As noted earlier in this newsletter, the tracking process continues to gather momentum with the number of Old Boys registering their details growing daily along with those traced for the first time. Any contacts you are able to pass on will be gratefully received as we go about building the most comprehensive alumni data base the school has ever produced.

The Foundation would also be delighted to receive news about Old Boys and their connections which is suitable for inclusion in future newsletters. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Steve Davie

Chief Executive