OCA President’s Column

Your Old Collegians Association has once again been very active in bringing Old Collegians together via many function during the past three months.

These core business activities including year level reunions, a 50-Year 1^st XVIII reunion, regionals dinner, the continued growth of a seasonal (informal) lunch at the Emerald Hotel, the Legends Dinner and the Unsung Heroes Dinner have been very well received. The OCA was also privileged to play a role in the success of the MENtal Brekky in August.

Through these events we continue to build bridges between our Old Boys and the College of today.

Full details of many of these functions are covered in other pages of this edition of the Shamrock but I thought it appropriate to share some correspondence we received which, in my mind, fully illustrates the merit and worth in organising such events.

In the week following the Unsung Heroes dinner myself, and many other involved in the function received the following email:

-Heartfelt thanks to all of you at our College for a wonderful night. Right from the outset the room was filled with laughter, nostalgic warmth- and friendship. The interviewed Unsung Heroes were all terrifically entertaining and the music- added a moving and brilliant dimension to the evening.

Everywhere I looked throughout the night I saw old teammates in groups of embrace, laughing and reminiscing and catching up with the stories of life since leaving school.-

It was so good to catch up with old teammates. The years fell away as we felt 17 again.-

How lucky we were to have those times at St Pat’s.-

How fortunate we all were to share all those memories with mates again.-

A thousand thanks to those (in the Development Office) for all your hard work and unfailing generosity of spirit over the last two years. And also to (Headmaster John Crowley) for your magnificent opening words of welcome and remembrance and tribute. And for enabling it all to happen .

Congratulations, Daryl Teschendorf, on your great vision for this night and for- co-ordinating the whole production so brilliantly . It was great fun to be- part of it all with you all.

I will treasure that memory and the friendship .

Very well done to you all ” Team ” and thank you, thank you, again.

From a fellow Unsung Hero.-

Such fantastic feedback makes it all worthwhile for those of us involved in the OCA and inspires us to continue to provide more great events for Old Boys to have fun.

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