Read other Reunion Reports

Class Reunions 2008

Reports from other reunions held this year have been submitted:

20 Year 1988 Seniors
45 Year 1963 Seniors

20 Year 1988 Seniors

Prepared by Luke Ingham-Myers.

On Friday June 13, the Class of '88 reunion was held with 75 excitable blokes gathering at the Qld Rugby Club, Downtown.

Early on, it was apparent that many of the class were anxious with the passing of 20 years as they entered the Rugby Club but within moments though, those anxieties disappeared as name tags were pinned (with a senior photo from the annual on the tag) and the class accepted that Mother Nature had won the battle of the last 20 years and that we had all been in the same battle.

Included in our number were Brothers Connors and Skelly who graciously accepted late invitations to the evening with an apology from Br McLaughlin who had a prior engagement.

The look on the faces of some of the boarders in the class as they spied Br Skelly for the first time in 20 years was priceless with some reacting instinctively, raising the toe of their shoe to shine their toe on the rear of their trouser.

A sit down dinner commenced with entry to the dining room supervised by Br Skelly (6 at a time with shoes shined) and Grace lead by Br Connors with time for reflection on those Brothers and Classmates that had died during the last 20 years.

After the Main Course we heard from our School Captain Dr Ivan Astori (Nudgee's first ever Day Boy School Captain) followed by a rousing Medley of Sunday night favourites from Scott Falvey (highlight being the ease with which "Companions on a Journey, "Though the Mountains may fall" and "The Galilee Song" can be linked together). With all the boys now in fine voice it was back to the bar to reflect on what great blokes we really were.

Towards the end of the evening the Christian Brothers did the rounds saying their goodbyes and advised they had a most enjoyable evening. It was around this time that Dimitri Fiorini (all the way from Dubai) declared that we should pack a few scrums. Thankfully this occurrence didn't eventuate as no one was willing to pack down against Glenn Panoho. If only Scott Sattler had been located for the evening Fiorini might have been a chance.

With daylight came the call to head out to Ross Oval and watch the First XV take the second last step to premiership glory by knocking over TSS in an epic struggle. Great talent was on display on the field however off field, a few of the class were struggling to stay focussed as a result of leaving their best performance behind the night before.

Saturday night saw a gathering of the class with their partners at the Story Bridge Hotel. With some still recovering (and a few not backing up - Roadtrain Ostwald where are you?) it was a civilised start to the evening building to a hearty rendition of the School song (Signum Fidei) and the war-cry ably lead by David Dugan.

As good as the numbers were for the weekend, there still remain many of the class missing in action. The reunion website will remain our point of contact ( www.nudgee88.com )so all classmates are encouraged to register and provide their details so next time the class gathers (whether it be informally every 12 months or 25th anniversary) we can more readily locate the class.

(Click to enlarge photo)

45 Year 1963 Seniors

Prepared by Bob Kelsey (1961-63)

They came from the shores of far-off Papua
To the halls of Canberra’....(sung to the tune of the Marines’ Hymn)

From near and from afar'. Well almost!

Chris McSweeney came from Perth along with Danny Allen and Tony Crehan from Tassie; Bob Newman and Eddie Leonard from Victoria, John O'Brien from Canberra and Alan McMahon from Cairns plus lots from Queensland country.

We couldn't get any of our priests like Frs Tom Martin, John Maher, Kevin Noble or Br Ralph Arnell to attend. Ralph is a Marist Brother in Manila after spending many years in PNG and Tom is in the USA after serving many years as a missionary in Peru.

We really enjoyed Saturday night at the Irish Club. The impromptu speeches by various classmates went over well. A welcoming address by Jim Barry, toasts to the College by Paul Martinez and to absent classmates by Alan McMahon-School Captain, comprised the formal part of the gathering. Grace was lead by John O'Brien and apologies were read by Bob Kelsey.

We also ran auctions for 2 school ties, a football jumper and an old hat which raised $1000 for a charity - yet to be decided. The drinks at the Bookies Club and lunch at the Golf Club also went well. The Headmaster’s address at the Golf Club was well received as it gave all present an understanding of the current happenings at Nudgee and made us feel more a continuing part of the College.

Not having alcohol at the marquee was fine. The marquee itself was a good gathering point. Winning the game was a bonus.

Fifty-one Old boys attended at least one of the events and there were twenty-three apologies. There were another sixty-one from whom we had no response - some of whom have probably died but we are unsure. We know of 12 deaths.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Thirty-eight came to the drinks at the Bookies Club where we thought the venue was pretty average but that seemed to add to the informality and ice breaking nature. The service was friendly and quick. Thirty-eight came to the lunch at the Golf Club. It also was informal and enjoyable and our hosts Judy and James looked after us very well.

.

Forty-two came to the dinner at the Irish Club. The service was a bit slow but nobody seemed to care. Last time we invited the ladies but didn't this time. It seemed that it was easier for the class to relax and enjoy themselves this way.




Pictured above is Bill Green presenting John O'Brien with his (Bill's) 1st XV tie. These ties were struck by James Delahunty in 2000 for those who played in a 1st XV side for Nudgee. They have the 35 Nudgee premiership years between 1918 and 2000 embroidered on them. Bill reckoned that as he had not played in a premiership side, but John O'Brien had, that John should have the tie and deserved it more than Bill did. John played in two premiership sides in 1960 and 1961 but was replaced by Bill in 1963 when John injured his back. Bill says that when he picked out that tie to wear to the Saturday night dinner he thought that he give it to John on the quiet but got carried away with the drama of the night.