The Association has undergone quiet and effective changes to strengthen its ties and relevance to all Old Boys and the wider School Community; the initiatives adopted by Council over the last two years are beginning to bear fruit. As stated in last year's Magazine, there will no longer be an extensive Old Boys' section in this publication — the Association's quarterly publication Old School Ties (now in its sixth issue) is the major vehicle for news of Old Boys' events and activities, and has dramatically increased interest in the Association. This was clearly illustrated at the Annual Reunion Dinner held in Brisbane on 13 August 1996, when over 200 Old Boys enjoyed the best-attended dinner in many years.
Clearly the highlight for the Old Boys' Association during 1996 was the return of "The Gun" to its rightful place on campus at BGS — officially unveiled during the Foundation Day Ceremonies in February, immaculately and painstakingly restored, this School icon now appears as a revitalised symbol of the School's history. A new initiative of the Association for 1997 is the establishment of "The Grammar Club", designed to encourage Old Boys to meet regularly and exchange business contacts and ideas, introducing younger Old Boys socially to older Old Boys in business, commerce and industry. The plans the Council has initiated will continue to underpin the synergy with the School as the Centenary (1998) approaches.
Ian Whittle, President
The Trustees' Scholarship winners pictured were R. V. Furtado, W. S. Y. Wang, R. J. Peffer, A. D. Copeland, D. A. Watson, M. A. Jenkins, N. L. Berry, P. P. D. Caldow, B. A. Scott, J. B. Diefenbach, G. G. Hall, A. N. Kemp (with Dr. P. G. Lennox). The two OBA-administered awards (recipients noted as "absent" from the photo):
The 1996 issue carries a substantial heritage feature ahead of the 1998 Centenary, telling the story of the captured WWI German field gun ("The Gun") returned to the School, and of Old Boy Brigadier-General Lachlan Chisholm Wilson — a "folk hero" who achieved the re-allocation of the gun to the School. It recounts that twenty-nine Old Boys fell at Gallipoli and the extraordinary contribution of Old Boys to the officer corps (a 1919 letter from Honorary Secretary Stuart Stephenson to the Board of Trustees is quoted), and reproduces an 1894 photograph showing Headmaster Reginald Heber Roe with the future General Wilson. A personal address on the rededication was given by the President, Mr. Ian Whittle.
In this era, an Old Boy's year designation was the year he entered Grammar; the convention today is the year he finished. A boy who started in 1993 and finished in 1997 was (93) but is now '97.
Brisbane Grammar School Old Boys' Association · Old Boys History. Part of the OBA Knowledge Project.
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