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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
March newsletter –
Foundation fuel card
* In the last three months, Old Boys, their families, friends and work colleagues have saved close to $20,000 on their fuel bills by using the Foundation’s RD Petroleum fuel cards.
Almost 90,000 litres have been poured through the cards since the first were activated in late-November with a significant proportion of this usage being in the Central Otago/Lakes district where savings amount to an average of 12 cents a litre.
The minimum saving for card users is 5.625 cents per litre, which represents fuel bought in the metropolitan areas right across New Zealand. Fuel purchased in the likes of Wanaka and the West Coast will attract a saving of 11 to 13 cents while those filling up in the Coromandel will save up to 28 cents per litre!
All Old Boys, their families, work mates and friends are able to take advantage of this offer. There does not need to be a direct link with Otago Boys – so feel free to pass the information on to all of your contacts. The Foundation also benefits through a rebate from RD – so it’s very much a win/win/win situation.
Please contact the Foundation office (03/4778977, 027/4370335, info@obhsfoundation.co.nz) if you wish to receive the application forms. Forms can also be downloaded from the Home Page of the Foundation’s website – www.obhsfoundation.co.nz
There are NO fees with these cards, NO monthly minimum usage required and NO limit on the number of cards individuals or companies are able to use. All cards are linked to a user’s bank account through direct debit.
Foundation members
* 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 –
Pledges and donations have now passed $790,000.
New donation laws
* New Zealand’s new donation rebate laws come into force on Tuesday, 1st April.
As of that date all charitable donations will attract a 33 1/3% rebate. In one stroke, New Zealand is now the most generous country in the world for tax deductions with individuals and businesses alike set to benefit.
If you would like to know more about the new rebate laws and the benefits they hold for you – as a benefactor of the Foundation – please contact the Foundation office.
Congratulations
* Mike Hesson (1988-92) has every reason to smile.
Into his third year as Otago cricket coach, Mike has a winner’s medal around his neck and prized silverware in the cabinet with his team taking out the 2007-2008 State Shield title.
Otago made the final against Auckland last season, being beaten comprehensively at the University Oval.
Twelve months later, the tables were turned on the Eden Park Outer Oval with Otago beating Auckland by seven wickets and with eight overs to spare on Sunday. Chasing 311 for victory, Otago – through a record-breaking 170 by Brendon McCullum and an unbeaten 86 by skipper Craig Cumming – cruise to the championship in the most emphatic of fashions.
Mike is adamant the result should bring additional notice to many of his players. He was especially keen for Bradley Scott and Nathan McCullum to be recognised by the national selectors.
“They were selected in the Black Caps squad for the Twenty/ 20 World Cup in South Africa last year but have missed selection for one-day teams.
“We’ve got seven guys who have played for New Zealand A and I really believe that our guys get overlooked. It is becoming a bit frustrating to see some of these people selected and our guys miss out continually”.
Mike said Otago’s first one-day title in 20 years would ‘‘make a number of people in the Otago and Southland region proud’’.
‘‘It is a great day for Otago cricket but it is also a great day for Otago sport. There have been some lean times, so hopefully this will put a smile on some faces.’’
Interschool
Results from the summer interschool against Southland Boys’, played away on 3rd & 4th March:
Golf Otago Boys’ 6, Southland Boys’ 4
Tennis Otago Boys’ seniors 14, Southland Boys’ seniors 7
Otago Boys’ juniors 12, Southland Boys’ juniors 9
Cricket – 1st XI
Southland Boys’ 83 (James Ferris 4/27, Blair Soper 4/32) and 100 (Hayden Miller 3/23, Blair Tarrant 2/15)
Otago Boys’ 328/8 declared (George Spittle 127, James Ferris 63, Matt Hunter 41)
Otago Boys won by an innings and 143 runs.
Cricket – 2nd XI
Otago Boys’ 264 (Sam Blakely 102*)
Southland Boys’ 117 (Ricky Black 3/41, Greg Croudis 3/20) and, following on, 64 (Blake Ponton 4/12, Sam Blakely 2/10, Callum Wardell 2/10)
Otago Boys’ won by an innings and 80 runs.
The winter interschool dates for 2008 are:
28 May vs Southland Boys’ (home)
18 June vs Christ’s (home)
25 June vs Timaru Boys’ (away)
4 July vs King’s (away)
23 July vs Waitaki Boys’ (away)
5 August vs Christchurch Boys’ (away)
School news
* Matt Alai is the school’s 2008 Head Boy.
Fresh back from a school-sponsored trip to Outward Bound at Anikiwa in the Marlborough Sounds, Matt is raring to go in his new role.
He will study chemistry, biology, maths with statistics, English and media studies this year while also playing volleyball and trialling for the first rugby XV. Matt sings bass in the school choir and barbershop quartet, and has responsibilities with the Christian Congregational Church of Samoa in South Dunedin.
Matt’s deputy is Craig Millar while the Head of House for 2008 is Callum Wardell.
* Otago Boys’ continues to excel in national examinations.
The school’s ranking against other decile 9 boys’ schools around the country clearly indicates a continued improvement, using both the average and mean results.
The 2007 averages were – Otago Boys’ National
Level 1 83.8 62.0
Level 2 69.7 64.4
Level 3 62.4 53.1
NCEA literacy 91.0 76.7
NCEA numeracy 95.8 84.5
University entrance 66.7 50.2
* Basketballers Morgan Nathan and Sam King are about to face a stern challenge and get their passports stamped in Germany in the process.
The promising players will join the Junior Tall Blacks at the Albert Schweitzer tournament as part of their rigorous build-up towards the 2009 Oceania Under-20 Championships.
The 16-team tournament, held in Mannheim, Germany, will provide the Junior Tall Blacks with the toughest of opposition.Most of the world’s top junior sides will be there, including Greece, Spain, Russia and USA.
‘‘We’ll get to see how good the other countries are and measure ourselves against some of the best players in the world,’’ Sam (16) said.
The 1.98m, 115kg year 12 pupil was a stand-out performer for the Otago under-17 team at the age group nationals last year.
The power forward helped guide Otago to the final, in which it was beaten 73-70 by North Harbour. Along with team-mate Paratene McLeod he made the tournament team, and caught the eye of the national selectors.
Sam was encouraged to concentrate on basketball six years ago and hasn’t looked back. He would like to play in the National Basketball League and has hopes of playing for the Breakers and the Tall Blacks.
Morgan (17) made the Junior Tall Blacks last year and has a slighter build than Sam. Speedy and agile, he is also a gifted athlete. The teenager had mapped out a career in athletics after some superb performances at the Colgate games in 2003. He won the 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump in his age group, but then discovered basketball.
Both have dreams of securing a basketball scholarship to play in the United States. Many of their opponents in Germany will go on to become big basketball names and there are likely to be scouts in the audience looking for future NBA and college players.
The Junior Tall Blacks leave for Germany in the middle of this month.
News & events
* Dunedin’s Regent Theatre set some new records last month with its first music and game sale getting close to eclipsing the record $88,000 the 24-hour book sale achieved in 2005.
Dunedin music aficionado and former Records Records owner Roi Colbert (1962-66) spent three months cataloguing the 13,000-strong music collection up for sale.
‘‘We’ve never categorised the records before and we’ve had a lot of people saying it would be easier to browse through if they were categorised,’’ he said.
The compilation included CDs, DVDs, videos, tapes and sheet music, as well as jigsaw puzzles and board games.
‘‘A lot of it’s easy listening and classical, but we’ve also got more rock, country and jazz than ever before,’’ Roi said.
The ‘‘overwhelming’’ response to last year’s book sale had forced organisers to split the sale into two events.
* Old Boys’ Tecwyn Evans (1985-89) and Jonathan Lemalu (1989-93) teamed up last month for the annual Last Night of the Proms in the Dunedin Town Hall.
It was 10 years ago the pair last worked together but the evenings - there were two concerts – promised and delivered much.
Jonathan first came to prominence when he won the 1998 Mobil [now Lexus] Song Quest while studying law and music at the University of Otago, where he graduated with a bachelor of law degree in 1999. He left Dunedin eight years ago in pursuit of his dream to become an international opera star, studying at the Royal College of Music in London for three years and winning the college’s esteemed gold medal in 2002.
In 2004, he was the Royal Philharmonic Society young artist of the year. He now has appearances booked years ahead in prestigious European and American concert halls and a three-year recording contract with EMI Classics.
Both Jonathan and Tecwyn, a world-renowned conductor, have featured at the British Proms in London and their presence forced the scheduling of a second sell-out event.
* World champion Hamish Bond (1999-2003) dominated last month’s New Zealand rowing championship at Lake Karapiro, ending the regatta undefeated and with three red coats to show for his efforts.
The 2003 Head Boy won gold in the men’s coxless pair with another Old Boy Carl Meyer (1995-99), in the premier coxless four with Meyer, Matthew Trott and George Bridgewater and with the quadruple sculls.
Hamish was stroke of the New Zealand world championship winning coxless four that took the team award at the Halberg Awards in Christchurch on midway through the regatta. He now has four red coats and is developing into one of the best oarsmen New Zealand has produced.
The pairs’ race saw Bond and Meyer record the second-fastest time in the history of New Zealand rowing. Their time of 6 minutes 22.84sec was three seconds better than fellow world champions James Dallinger and Eric Murray, the other half of the world champion coxless four.
* Geoff Davies OBE (1961-63), a Senior Fellow of the Foundation and Chief Executive of leading agricultural and public sector machinery manufacturer, Alamo Group Europe Ltd, has been named National Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 by the British Chambers of Commerce.
Alamo makes agricultural and vegetation control machinery with its McConnel, Bomford Turner, Spearhead and Twose subsidiaries and Geoff impressed the judges with his entrepreneurial record in transforming many famous but declining brands into highly profitable, growing, and forward looking companies.
Geoff won the West Midlands Entrepreneur award last October and the national accolade was announced at a recent gala presentation evening at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The British Chambers of Commerce has over 650,000 member businesses within the United Kingdom. He believes in leading from the front and stamps his personality on all the Alamo companies, whilst focusing on the development of his people.
At the national awards, Darren Cassidy, Director of Xerox UK said, “Almost everyone thinks they can spot a business opportunity and create a successful company but true entrepreneurs are a very rare breed.
“Geoff has pushed the boundaries to prove that there is still a place for British engineering in the UK. He has demonstrated a real commitment to creating vital jobs in the rural communities. He has set out to dominate niche markets worldwide”.
Among the audience at the event was Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of Easyjet, while the MC was BBC news presenter Geroge Alagiag. Peter Mileham, President of the British Chambers of Commerce, noted “entrepreneurs are the pioneers of the modern age. They take risks. They spot opportunities when most see boundaries. We look forward to watching Geoff’s business grow and succeed in the future”.
Immediately after receiving the award, Geoff traveled to France to work on the acquisition of another business with a purported annual turnover of around 50 million euros.
Old Boys’ bowls
The annual Otago Boys’ versus King’s Old Boys’ bowls tournament will be contested on Wednesday 9th April – and players are invited to register their interest in being involved.
Set down for the Balmacewen Bowling Club in Dunedin, the tournament will be played in the Westpac Stadium, Tahuna Road, if the weather forces a move indoors. Whites are the worn.
Those interested in playing should contact Bill Butler (03/4675667).
Annual Foundation golf tournament
The third annual Otago Boys’ High School golf classic was contested on Monday of this week with our new naming rights’ sponsor Armstrong Mazda presiding over another highly successful day.
A full field of 120 players (30 teams) converged on Dunedin’s St Clair course for the ambrose tournament, which was played in fine conditions with a gentle nor-easterly fluffing the tree tops.
All 18 holes were sponsored, a high quality prize list was assembled and a terrific day of entertainment and companionship was enjoyed by all concerned. The Foundation is genuinely appreciative of the support it received from its sponsors (naming rights’, hole and prize), those who entered teams and who played as individuals, and from the St Clair Golf Club management team and pro shop.
While most players involved reside in and around Dunedin, we were privileged to again host Brian Merrilees (1952-56, Dux in ’56, now Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Toronto and a Friend of the Foundation), Brian having also played in last year’s event, and Craig Brown (1963-67) who also lives in Canada where he is a specialist in insurance law at the University of Western Ontario.
The prize list was –
Closest to the pin:
4th Dave Cameron
7th Simon Gallie
13th Thomas Facer
16th Mark Andrews
Longest drive (18th) – Luke Geddes
Team prizes –
Most golf – Clarke Craw Ltd (playing off a team handicap of 7.875, shooting 81 to finish with a net score of 73.125)
13th – ABN Amro Craigs, 7.125, shooting 66, net score 58.875
12th – Wilkinson Adams, 5.375, shooting 64, net score 58.625
11th – Armstrong Mazda # 1, 7.5, shooting 66, net score 58.5
10th – Composite team (Brian Merrilees, Craig Brown, Greg Paterson, Thomas Facer), 5, shooting 63, net score 58
9th – HRV, 8.125, shooting 66, net score 57.875
8th – National Bank # 1, 2.375, shooting 60, net score 57.625
7th – Brothers Boutique Hotel, 6, shooting 63, net score 57
6th – Otago Daily Times, 9.125, shooting 66, net score 56.875
5th – Otago Boys’ High School, 2.125, shooting 59, net score 56.875
4th – Kiwi Mortgage Market (by lot), 6.5, shooting 62, net score 55.5
3rd – Sharpies Golf Otago (by lot), 5.5, shooting 61, net score 55.5
2nd – Tuesday’s hackers (by lot), 5.5, shooting 60, net score 54.5
1st – Gladstone Grand Hotel, Fairlie (represented by St Clair members Paul Brower, Paul Barlow, George Gallagher and Rob Nicol), 6.5, shooting 61, net score 54.5. The Gladstone Grand 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
1958 Reunion
* Plans are well advanced for a 50th reunion of the intake of 1958.
This gathering will be held in Dunedin over the weekend of 12th to 14th September this year and further details are available from Bob McKillop (rmmck@xtra.co.nz or at 04/3849800).
Milestone birthdays
* Celebrating a milestone birthday this month is Friend of the Foundation Frazier Graveson (1951-54) who marked his 70th on March 2nd.
Our congratulations to him.
Lost contacts
In recent weeks the Foundation has lost contact with the following Old Boys and any assistance in determining their current whereabouts would be appreciated –
Les Mutch (1955-57) – last known address: Gore
Jona Grant (1979-83) – last known address: Dunedin
Cliffs Johns (1956-59) – last known address: Dunedin
Frank Watt (1962-65) – last known address: Waikouaiti
Greg Keith (1971-74) – last known address: Dunedin
Max Cuthbertson (1958-61) – last known address: Sawyers Bay
Bill Radford (1957-59) – last known address: Springfield, Canterbury
Barry Robb (1966-70) – last known address: Dunedin
Alan Glenn (1938-41) – last known address: Christchurch
Lyall Vazey (1967-70) – last known address: Dunedin
Recent deaths
* We extend our condolences to the families of the following Old Boys –
John Alfred McCausland (1936-38), died in Gore on 1st February 2008.
Kevin John Hastie (1948-49), died in Dunedin on 6th February 2008, aged 74. Kevin was the brother of the late Keith Hastie (1946-47) and Trevor Hastie (1954-56).
Bryan Logan Sherriff (1947-51), died at Ross Home in Dunedin on 10th February 2008, aged 74.
Rex (Francis Rex) Woodbury (1955-59), died at Ripponburn Hospital & Home in Cromwell on 20th February 2008. Rex was the brother of Trevor Woodbury (1961-63) and the brother-in-law of the late Ian Faulks (1952-53).
Willis Mackley Robertson (1946), died in Alexandra on 21st February 2008, aged 76.
David Ernest Clayton (1961-65), died in Christchurch on 21st February 2008, aged 60. David was the brother of Barry Clayton (1959-63) and Brian Clayton (1966-70).
Rodney James Stewart (1968-71), died in Dunedin on 29th February 2008.
Kevin Brian Timothy Mannix (1986), died in Christchurch on 1st March 2008, aged 35.
Jack Roberts Sparrow (1929-30), died in Nelson on March 5th 2008. Jack was the brother of Barry Sparrow (1936-36) and Richard Sparrow (1934-37) and the late Maurice Sparrow (1927-28) and the late Lloyd Sparrow (1931-32).
Brendon Phillip Ross (1995-98), died as the result of an accident in Dunedin on 8th March 2008.
Colin Alexander Clyne (1941-43), died in Oamaru on 12th March 2008.
* We also extend our sympathies to –
Sam Hinton (2006) whose father Ian died in Wanaka on 8th February 2008.
Colin Stewart (1956-57), whose father Eric died in Timaru on 8th February 2008. Eric was the father-in-law of Kelvin Lavell (1954-57).
Len Simpson (1939-40) whose wife Noel died in Dunedin on 11th February 2008. Noel was the mother of Martyn Simpson (1968-72) and Steve Simpson (1970-74).
Lucas Lormans (1995-98) whose grandmother Maria died in Dunedin on 21st February 2008.
Matthew Bannister (1979) whose father Peter die din Dunedin on 26th February 2008.
Buddy Kyle (1986-90) whose father Graham died in Dunedin on 27th February 2008.
Bryan Turnbull (1957) whose wife Joy died in Christchurch on 28th February 2008.
Raman Flawn (1974-78) whose father John died in Dunedin on 3rd March 2008.
Anthony (1985-89), Nicholas (1990-94), James (1996-2000) and Sam Rowcroft (2001-05) whose mother Gaye died in Dunedin on 3rd March 2008.
Bill Boyd (1939-40) whose brother-in-law Ces Read died in Dunedin in Balclutha on 4th March 2008.
Brian (1955-59) and Alastair Hasell (1959-64) whose mother Jean died in Dunedin on March 5th 2008.
Brett Haugh (1978-82) whose father Allan died in Dunedin on 7th March 2008.
Gordon Thomson (1940-43) whose wife Kathleen died in Tauranga on 8th March 2008.
Arnold Hubbard (1942-45) whose mother-in-law Anne McDonald died in Dunedin on March 11th 2008.
