obhs foundation sept-dec 2013 newsletter · 2016. 7. 25. · oral reminiscence from over 400...

Otago Boys’ High School Foundation Spring/Summer 2013

OBHS Foundation eNewsletter

END OF YEAR 2013 EDITION

IF YOU WISH TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE FOUNDATION, PLEASE RING - 03 477-2546

EMAIL – [email protected] OR WRITE TO US AT – BOX 11, DUNEDIN 9054

http://www.obhs.school.nz/foundation

From the desk of Foundation Team Member Kimberley Fridd…

The weeks have flown by and the end of the year is upon us. School is slowly wrapping up, the last of NCEA exams have been held, and this will be the last Foundation newsletter for the year.

Recently Otago Boys’ High School and the OBHS Foundation had a very successful launch for Rory Sweetman’s new book, ‘Above the City’, a history of Otago Boys’ High School 1863-2013. Some people travelled a long way to be at the launch and it was a very special occasion for all involved. You can still buy copies of the book through the school office or head to the University Book Shop in Dunedin. It makes a great read!

We hope you have a happy and safe festive season and see you all back here in the New Year.

OBHS Foundation Golf Tournament 2014

Lock this date into your calendars now for our annual golf fundraiser. A great day out!

Friday 14th February 2014

More info to come…

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Spring/ Summer 2013

Book launch of “Above the City” For those Old Boys who could not attend the launch of ‘Above the City’ on 21 November, here is a

précis of my remarks on that evening. I began by thanking the Foundation for allowing me to ‘attempt history on’ an institution with such a rich and eventful past, and Clive Rennie for giving me the confidence that a professional rather than a promotional exercise was intended. My gratitude goes to all those connected with the school who contributed their memories, illustrations, criticism and encouragement, with a special mention to all those unconnected with the school (archivists, librarians, and the like) who helped in various ways.

It’s a great joy for me to see ‘Above the City’, if not quite ‘hot off the press’, at least newly freed from the bindery. I am grateful to Clive, Brian McMahon, Michael McMillan, Grant Fletcher, Ross Grimmett, and Christopher Waugh for their written contributions. I had 18 months wrestling with this project on my own, before Dr Austin Gee and Christine Buess came riding to my rescue. Austin expertly polished up my scruffy words, while Christine’s skills as a book designer are evident on every page of the book. Southern Colour Print deserves a lot of credit for producing such a handsome tome, and Levin Bookbinders has also done an excellent job.

I wrote the book as an outsider, my aim being to produce the sort of book that I would like to read about my own school—one that placed Otago Boys’ High in its social, educational, and political context; tracing the origins of its traditions and how they adapted to modern demands; telling the story behind the story. I saw my role as part-interpreter and part-medium, drawing on a wealth of written and oral reminiscence from over 400 respondents to my appeals for information. The result is a very boy-centred book, especially from the 1940s onward.

Now, there was a case for a more soft-focused, celebratory publication to mark the 150th, along the lines of most school histories. A book that would in the words on one son of a rector ‘praise and cheer the school’s successes’. I think that the OBHS Foundation (of 2010) deserves great credit for aiming a little bit higher than that, and for moving away from the tradition embodied in Theo Arnold’s contribution to the 1963 Register, which tactfully skirts around anything even mildly controversial. Mine is not a book designed merely to laud OBHS successes and ignore less edifying realities. Every boy’s memories were of equal interest to me, and I have tried to capture the variety of experiences as recalled by my respondents.

No-one will agree with everything that I have written, nor do I expect them to do so. Whether the book will be judged a success or not is for the future to reveal. It is, I believe, extremely good value at $75 for almost 500pp, with nearly as many illustrations. A generous donation by Grant Bowie (1971-75) has permitted its sale at this very reasonable price. I ended my speech by quoting the first line of the book, a sarcastic comment from James Gordon Stuart Grant made in the course of a controversy in the Otago Daily Times in 1884. (Grant went to his grave in 1902 convinced that he had been cheated out of his rightful role as First Rector.)

‘The history of the High School is written, and therefore, as Milton says, let truth and falsehood grapple.’

Rory Sweetman, Author, ‘Above the City’.

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Photos from the book launch of “Above the City”

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A word from OBHS Old Boy Jim Mora

I read Andrew Moffat’s interesting thoughts about the 150th reunion that its main purpose was to reconnect. That’s true, and reconnections take different forms. Sometimes they are only memories.

There weren’t many boys in attendance from my year at OBHS, but there were many memories. I wish there had been more. I wanted a deluge of scenes and feelings from my youth. It wasn’t quite like that. The hippocampus hasn’t stored everything as per instructions, and my emotions are stuck in middle age now. I could remember what I was but quite not who I was. It’s frustrating having only fragments, mostly, but for some reason there are episodes that stay with you. There used to be cadets at the start of every year. We had fun with 303s and Brens, but I realised I wasn’t cut out for the S.A.S., so in my last year I excused myself from cadets. I kept the uniform and gave myself sergeant’s stripes (to impress 3rd formers), and I went up to the Tower and edited the school magazine. One day an old boy came up, he was very old, 29, and he looked wistfully around the room. Then he fixed me with his eye like the ancient mariner and he said “You know, school days really are the happiest days of your life.” I thought “You poor bugger.” I knew he was wrong, but I must have feared he wasn’t. How could he not be wrong? The future seemed so full of possibility. That room in the Tower was locked when I went back up to try and remember what those possibilities looked like. They must have seemed endless for Malcolm McCaughan.

Malcolm was the boy in our leaving year who seemed most likely to succeed. Malcolm McCaughan wouldn’t return at age 29 and be wistful. He would stride across a large stage. He was destined for greatness.

He was in formidable company, looking back. John Judge the ACC chairman went through with us, as did the brilliant Lichter twins, one a distinguished neurologist now, the other a psychiatrist. David Lichter could beat me at chess blindfolded, which was galling. Ricky van Barneveld became head of Transit NZ, Team New Zealand’s Ross Blackman was in my year, there were quite a few clever clogs. I suppose every leaving year has them. Some I have never seen again as they flew high around the world in their careers, like David Mayhew and Paul Hambleton. John Hardie, Ken Rust, Gary Williams, Peter Appleby, Sudhindra Rao were at the reunion from my year, all talented men, their names known in certain circles, like all our names. They stay with you all your life if they were in your class. These are people you think about more than they know. Sometimes you even think about people you didn’t know. I remember Iain Gallaway once referring to a former head boy, Sonny Moloney, so I looked him up. He excelled at everything he did, including playing cricket for New Zealand, and he was killed in the African campaign in World War 2. I have even remembered the name of the place where he died, Ruweisat Ridge. I know nothing of that battle, little of his history and none of his family, but I have felt compelled to honour him somehow by just remembering his name.

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At least Sonny Moloney rates a Google obituary. Malcolm McCaughan doesn’t. I have never begun to forget him, even though we weren’t close mates. He was tall, good-looking and blonde. He was very cool, he played in rock bands. He was confident and charismatic, and he was Dux. My conversations with him were just casual, but I remember those conversations, for some reason. There were boys I was much closer to, but I can’t recall what we talked about. Malcolm did everything with seeming ease. I’m sure he worked hard, but it didn’t show. Sometimes he seemed far away in class, he wasn’t an obvious swot. Once he was chosen to be caned, for something he hadn’t done. He wouldn’t betray the boy who had done it, and he simply said “No, you won’t cane me.” He went home and stayed home, and it was the School that gave in. Malcolm was OBHS’ shining star. If you had polled the 7th Form asking “Who would you want to be if you weren’t you?” Malcolm would have won hands down I imagine. At the end of my first varsity year I happened to be working with his dad, I think it was at the Gregg’s coffee factory on the production line, and he told me how Malcolm had done so well at Otago University that he was being admitted into Chemistry honours, part two; he was skipping a year.

It was a working class family, and he was so proud of his son. I must have left that job just before Christmas, and a few days later Malcolm was in a bad road accident, though I didn’t know. This was before the internet and social networks spread news instantly. He was a passenger in a car that crashed in Central Otago. He lay on a lonely roadside, with the paramedics slow to arrive in the middle of the night. And Malcolm died.

It has stayed with me as one of the great sadnesses. As the years go rolling by, not all of us are in the chorus. The words of the school song feel like a guarantee of time when you sing them, but that isn’t always so.

The names of classmates travel with you. They attach themselves to you, they’re on a list in your head. And maybe when you aren’t here any more your name is on a list in someone else’s head. When the older old boys stood up on the Friday night I wondered – fruitlessly - about some of their lives and what they’d achieved. I didn’t know, but others would have known, for each of them. And that’s what it means to be honoured. It needn’t involve winning the America’s Cup or captaining the All Blacks. Malcolm McCaughan never received a knighthood or stood up to acknowledge applause at a reunion. He never bought a house, had children, or even finished a degree. I saw him looking out from our class portrait in the Shand library. That photo is on my iPhone now so I carry him with me, and the others who weren’t there. Thank you for that reunion.

Jim Mora (1967-1971)

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Below are examples of the prices for website advertising on the OBHS Foundation site. If you are interested in any of the spaces available,

please contact the Foundation Office on 03 477-2546 or email: [email protected]

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Foundation Members

As has been mentioned in a number of newsletters now, part of your Board’s deliberations on the Foundation’s forward thinking centres around the fact that whilst we have confirmed contact details for 7,530 living Old Boys, only 440 have so far made a financial contribution and have thus become Foundation members. We would dearly love to at least double that number (or better) because new members are the future of the Foundation. We still need your support so please give this serious consideration!

Remember, pledges do not need to be large lump sum payments – we are very grateful for all contributions, large or small, and in one payment or spread over a period of up to five years which often makes the donation much easier to handle from the Old Boys’ budgeting point of view.

Since our last newsletter, we have received a donation from:

James Burns (1961-1962) – Friend of the Foundation

We are genuinely appreciative of the continued support and belief in the Foundation’s objectives shown by those Old Boys who have become Foundation Members. If you wish to find out more about how you can make a pledge or donation please contact the Foundation Office on 03 - 477 2546.

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We acknowledge the recent passing of the following Old Boys of the school:

John Meldrum (1956-1957) died on 22nd July 2013 at Hospice Southland

Max Warburton (1950-1954) died on 24th September 2013, at Lesley Groves Hospital, aged 76 years old

Peter Gosney (1976-1979) died on September 23rd 2013, suddenly at home after a short illness, aged 51 years old

Tim Gillies (1953-1955) died on October 1st 2013, at Ross Home in Dunedin

Don Gordon (1950-1955) died on October 3rd 2013, at Dunedin Hospital, aged 76 years old

William Harvie (1947-1948) died on 10th October 2013, at Dunedin Hospital, aged 81 years old

Tom Loutit (1965-1970) died on 10th October 2013, in Canberra Hospice Australia, aged 61 years old

Peter Edwards (1964-1965)) died on 13th October 2013, at Dunedin Hospital, aged 63 years old

Sydney (Ron) Alderson (1972) died on 19th October 2013, in Dunedin

Gordon Matheson (1942-1945) died on 22nd October 2013, in Hamilton

Alan Sturgeon (1956-1957) died on 28th October 2013, in Christchurch, aged 70 years old

Brian Neilson (1950-1955) died on 8th November 2013, in Napier, aged 76 years old

Ian Horrax (1959-1961) died on 11th November 2013, on the West Coast

Donald Jelley (1949-1951) died on 20th November 2013, aged 77 years

Garry Huddleston (1972-1973) died on 21st November 2013, in Maniototo Hospital, Ranfurly, aged 56 years

Ronald Roy (1934-1937) died on 30th November, in Christchurch, aged 92 years old

Stanley Wooding (1945-1946) died 6th December 2013, in Invercargill

Robert (Bob) Cook (1957-1961) died 12th December 2013, in Southland

We will remember them

In Memoriam

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Once again it has been my privilege as Society president to attend prize giving ceremonies and celebrations around the boys who are leaving school. Our lads continue to do well in all areas - academic, cultural and sporting which is a credit to the hard-working and dedicated teaching staff at OBHS. My two sons, Nick and George, have just successfully completed years 12 and 9 (forms 6 and 3) respectively and have formed some great friendships as we did during our time at the school. The abundance of learning and growth opportunities available to our sons is extraordinary and OBHS remains in very good shape heading into 2014.

Now that the 150th celebrations are over the Old Boys’ Society can focus on our regular activities such as organising functions for our local members. These include the upcoming Old Boys vs pupils sports day held in February every year and the occasional luncheon with a guest speaker - we will announce plans early in the New Year for our next luncheon. We will also be holding more regular informal gatherings at a local watering hole for those keen for a yarn over a pint or two after work. The only way we have of effectively communicating with our database is via this newsletter or by email so please keep an eye out for announcements. Of course we also rely on word of mouth so let’s keep the grapevine working too and help spread the word.

I have just begun reading ‘Above the City’; a wonderfully written and fully illustrated history of the first 150 years of Otago Boys’ High School. This is a truly brilliant book and I recommend all Old Boys and others with an interest in Otago Boys order a copy by contacting the school or purchasing from the University Book Shop. The author, Rory Sweetman, has thoroughly researched his subject and put together a riveting ‘warts and all’ account of the school from its establishment in August 1863 through to the present day. Rory is a talented and dynamic writer and our thanks go to him and his editorial team for producing such a splendid volume.

It’s been a busy year and I am looking to a hard-earned break over the holiday period.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2014.

Brent Alexander

President OBHS Old Boys’ Society

Old Boys’ Society

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November 2013

Another year is speeding to a close with our senior students beginning external exams this week

Our prizegiving was very successful with more boys going across the stage than in previous years. Our top students have been very successful, six of them winning very generous scholarships to Universities from Auckland to Otago.

Another group we celebrated with were our NZ representatives or their equivalent in the cultural sector. This year 14 boys won their honours blazer and I made the comment that in any other school I have been in this would represent at least fifty years of history. We can be very proud of the boys, their families, and in many cases the contribution made by staff in providing opportunities.

Our school has a strong reputation as a sporting school, but in fact culturally we perform very well. Two boys made the NZ Secondary Schools’ Choir, which will travel to South America next year, and another, a Year 10, has been selected in the NZ Secondary Schools’ Orchestra as a violinist.

One of our prefects also won his letters for piano performance and another the NZ top schools award for composing a piece for a quartet.

It has been a stellar year for music with a rock band the “Puzzle Puppets” winning through to one of the top three places in a national competition. I watched a video this band had put together for a media studies paper and it was easy to see why they had reached the excellence level.

As mentioned in the last newsletter it is now time our Foundation reflected on “where to next”. Currently the school operates the everyday activities but without benefit. We need a vision and we need it now.

Any thoughts members have would be welcomed as we look to see what the next plan for development will be.

We here at OB’s wish you all the best for the festive season.

Kia kaha

Clive Rennie

Rector

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitaki engari he toa takimano

My success is not mine alone but success of all of us working together

From the Rector


Spring / Summer 2013

Cheap fuel with OBHS Foundation’s fuel card As fuel prices remain high 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 anyone you think may well benefit from joining the programme.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE AND START SAVING ON ALL YOUR FUEL PURCHASES!

Individual Application – Click here Limited Companies Application – Click here

Newsletter researched and compiled by Kimberley Fridd

obhs foundation sept-dec 2013 newsletter · 2016. 7. 25. · oral reminiscence from over 400...

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