There is something extraordinary about a shared experience which becomes very obvious at the annual Old Boys’ Association dinner. The night brings together generations of Churchie boys for a night of story telling and reminiscing with friends new and old. With 250 Old Boys converging on Howard Smith Wharves last Friday evening, making it our largest annual since the school’s centenary in 2012, this year was no exception. As the Headmaster Dr Alan Campbell reflected: “There was something special and vibrant about the evening, everyone was happy and conversing across age groups.” The formalities of the evening commenced with a brief welcome from the OBA President Mr Simon Pattison, followed by some enjoyable and lighthearted banter from School Captain Jack Butler-Wood before he said Grace.

One of the more memorable and poignant moments of the evening were the fitting tributes to very prominent Old Boys who have recently passed – Graham Freudenberg (1951) and Lloyd McDermott (1957). Graham’s remarkable life was reflected on by the Honourable Cameron Dick (1984) who is an Old Boy and a minister in Queensland’s current Labor government. Graham, often described as the ‘Donald Bradman’ of speechwriters, wrote over a thousand speeches spanning fifty years for several leaders of the Australian Labor Party​ (ALP), including Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke. Lloyd McDermott’s life was honoured with a nostalgic tribute by Old Boy Christopher Hughes QC (1974), a recent past president of the Qld Bar Association which had an important link with Lloyd. Lloyd was Australia’s first indigenous barrister and was also one of the first indigenous Wallabies.

Old Boy Tim Walsh (1996), gave an intriguing insight of his journey from being a student at Churchie, to becoming a professional rugby player, to his current career as a professional coach which has already taken him to the 2016 Rio Olympics as Head Coach of the gold medal winning Australian Women’s Rugby Sevens team. It seems Tim was destined for such success in the sporting arena when in 1996 the Australian Olympic Committee acknowledged his sporting prowess in upholding Olympic ideals of sportsmanship and leadership qualities both on and off the field by bestowing on him the Pierre de Coubertin Award (now known as the Australian Olympic Change-Maker program). In 1996, Tim captained both Churchie’s First XV Rugby team and premiership winning First XI Cricket team. He also captained both the Queensland and Australian Schoolboys Rugby teams in that year.

The following day at Old Boys’ Day, we were treated to some highly competitive rugby and basketball against Gregory Terrace. The First XV came away with a well-earned, but ultimately hard fought, 33-29 drought breaking win. Conversely, our fast finishing First V basketball team were not quite able to close the gap on their rivals, falling agonisingly short of victory, 75-70, for their first loss of the season.

Later this month we welcome the 1949 cohort back to Churchie to celebrated their 70 Year Reunion. We also have interstate reunions scheduled for Canberra on Thursday 12 September, Melbourne on Thursday 24 October and Perth on Thursday 5 December.

When you next go to the movies be sure to check out the new feature film Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan. Old Boy Oliver Lacey (2014) plays a small part in the movie and at one point can be seen playing on the keyboards. Oliver debuted professionally as Baby John in West Side Story on Sydney Harbour in March 2019.

Job Search
Sam Tasker (2018)
Sam is looking for some part time work before he commences study in sports science in 2019. Ideally, Sam is looking for work in this field however would be interested in any part time work that may be available in the meantime.

Aaron Huang (Year 12)
Aaron is a current student and is looking to study Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney. Aaron is looking for some work experience over the upcoming school holidays in September/October.

If you have an opportunity for either Sam or Aaron, or are able to provide some guidance in their search,please contact the OBA office by email at oba@churchie.com.au or by phoning 07 3896 2203.