From the President — Centenary Year (1998)
Ian Whittle (63), President.
Dear Fellow Old Boys — it is my great pleasure to report to you on the activities of the Brisbane Grammar School Old Boys' Association in 1998, our Centenary Year. From the outset of my term I espoused the concept that our Association should and must become more relevant to the School Community and particularly more relevant to Old Boys generally. With great support from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Howard Stack (59), and the Headmaster, Dr. Peter Lennox, the Association's Executive announced (in time for our Centenary Year) a range of revitalising initiatives:
- To administer the Association on a daily basis, the OBA Executive and the Headmaster have appointed Mr. Brian Glance as Executive Director of the Association.
- From 1 January 1998, all Old Boys of BGS automatically become Ordinary Members of the Association, with the annual subscription reduced to nil — a fundamental change. (Ordinary Membership brings notification of OBA events and one issue annually of Grammar News, which now includes the popular Old School Ties magazine format. Closer involvement, including the right to stand for and vote for office-bearers, comes through Life Membership.)
I am very proud to announce that we currently have 527 Life Members. Our Centenary Year has been an enjoyable time of celebration — reunions, activities, Open Day involvement, and of course the very successful Centenary Dinner.
1998 Centenary Dinner. The Centenary Dinner of the BGSOBA was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and an unqualified success: more than six hundred Old Boys and their partners met in the Brisbane City Hall on Tuesday 11 August. Recognition of outstanding service was given to the former Master and Old Boy, Mr. Ollie (O. J.) Bell, among others.
Ian Whittle, President
The Association
Office-Bearers, 1998
- President: Ian Whittle (63)
- Vice-President: Stuart Bale (55)
- Secretary: Roger Cater (58)
- Treasurer: Ross Duus (58)
- Executive Member: David Laidlaw (56)
- Executive Director (newly appointed): Mr. Brian Glance
- (Correspondence: BGS Old Boys' Association, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane Qld 4000.)
The Year
Bursaries and Scholarships presented Foundation Day, 1998 [p. (Foundation Day awards)]
- The Reginald Heber Roe Bursary — S. R. Griffin.
- The A. J. Mason Scholarship — N. I. Brown.
- The A. S. (Arthur Stanley) Roe Scholarship — T. H. Stainlay.
- The J. G. Nowlan Bursary — W. K.-S. Siu.
- The Frank Shaw Bursary — J. A. Hansen.
Old Boys in the News
School Leaders, 1998
- School Captain: Robert Shand
- Vice-Captains: Aaron D'Souza; Nicholas Haines; David Nevin
Notable noted in this issue
- O. J. ("Ollie") Bell — former Master and Old Boy, recognised for outstanding service to the School at the Centenary Dinner (long-serving cricket master and First XI coach for 32 years; M.B.E.).
- Howard Stack (59) — Chairman of the Board of Trustees (a strong supporter of the OBA's Centenary initiatives). (Note: the long-serving Trustee Chairman Howard Stack is recorded elsewhere as H. L. Stack, the 1962 School Captain; the 1998 issue gives his entry year as '59.)
