Marist Brothers High School Darlinghurst
Blue & Blue
Christmas 2017
Gentlemen,
It’s Christmas !
The OBU Exec & Committee wish all you Old Boys and your families a
happy, joyous and holy Christmas
As the year of the Marists
bicentenary comes to a close, we reflect upon the legacy of St.
Marcellin Champagnat, as provided by one of our members:
The Marist Institute was founded on 2 January 1817 by St Marcellin
Champagnat, who welcomed two novices into a small house in La Valle on
that day.
The 200th celebratory Mass occurred on Saturday 12 August 2017 at St
Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta with over 400 in attendance.
Simultaneous celebrations were held in Brisbane and Melbourne.
After a wonderful mass, Br Peter Carroll, Australian Provincial and
Leader of Marists in Australia, gave an inspiring address noting the
three matters emphasised by the International Marist Provincial for
the Bi-centenary
---Gratitude, Forgiveness and Commitment---
Robert Casamento Class of 1960.
[an expansive account may be found at “Marists
2017-bicentenary.pdf”]
The official
OBU webpage
for 2017-2018 confirms our tradition of supporting Marist causes, while
pursuing the ideals of the Marist Assn. of St. Marcellin Champagnat. We
proudly confirm our support for “The Children’s Manifesto” which has
spread from English into numerous languages: Chinese, Farsi (Persian),
Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish with Filipino,
French and Japanese in progress. See
Marscom.
Furthermore, the OBU continues to support Br. Paul Murphy’s commitment
in the Philippines and
Kuya Center.
Although the OBU was able to make contributions to a recent tragedy,
more help would be appreciated. [Story]
For those who did not receive the email of
explanation, for an earlier email remitted from
darlo@6mins.com
entitled “The words women
use”, that explanation is
available at “Incredible
IT abnormality”.
The explanation was remitted to the entire OBU membership but about 50%
of the emails bounced back, further exacerbating the technical issues.
What a rich
experience that was, ironically! Plenty of feeling, both for and
against. Funny jokes, anecdotes etc. have come flooding in, since being
unintentionally responsible for what generated the bulk email remittance
to the OBU list. As always, opinions differ and there were three
responses critical of the nature of the email, as remitted within the
OBU. One saw one of our most revered Brothers pondering cancelation of
further B&B subscription, if such action continued, until he became
aware of the circumstances surrounding the remittance.
Another, curt but respectful, arrived from an
old classmate about the inappropriateness of such an email within the
OBU community, while further elaborating upon the inappropriateness of
the accompanying “Adoption” anecdote, with which I had signed off. The
third, which chronologically was the first, has been chosen for
publication. [At the time of publishing, one more of few words has
arrived, making a total of four critical responses. No doubt, others
felt similarly who chose not to write.]
The response chosen,
reflects those elements of a Darlo education:
a critique , respectfully and objectively delivered; a balanced and
succinct interpretation of possible wider effect upon others; a
commitment to a personalised statement, which always takes a degree of
courage when standing up and being counted; a closing endorsement of
fraternity, leaving the tirelessly-working-for-the-OBU recipient with a
pleasant feeling, while well-aware of the issue at hand.
“Dear Editor,
Whatever
self-effacing humour this glossary may imply about men’s failings, it’s
not so subtly critical of women’s role in relationships.
If ‘we’ have learnt
anything about our cultural failings in gender equity in recent times,
perhaps this is not the cleverest - or most supportive message – to
circulate amongst a group of old, rich white men (to reflect the
generalisations). Especially pre-Christmas.
I think MBHS OBU is
a great resource to foster the spirit of Marist education, happy to be
part of it. So keep up the good work please, but only the good.
Best wishes and
Merry Christmas, Mr Editor”
My heart leaps to
know that I’m among the “rich.” Clearly the contributor could not have
been positioning ourselves toward the monetarily rich but to that elite
group who, through education at a fine institution, find themselves
abundant in …….... whatever.
The other two
“generalisations” are up for grabs: “old” and “white”. Watching Alan
Willoughby [Class of 1937] at the last reunion redefined what “old” was
for many, given that Alan, the most senior of the group by decades,
exuded youthful vitality and an engaging disposition, which some
may have lost with a self-definition
of “old.” Sparkling, anticipating eyes gave way to a smile breaking, as
one engaged him in conversation.
I just hope, the
good Brother excluded, that the other two who ventured critique, ponder
what contributions they may care make to the OBU in future, particularly
as both are of quite brilliant minds. Perhaps they’re just not rich?
A thank you also, to
those who forwarded a cartload full of humour, albeit not all for
publication.
Philosophy.
“45
Life Lessons”
can be found in Non-Fiction on the Darlo main webpage. It was written by
a young 90 year-old.
Robert Dick’s
[Class of 1961] reunion, centering around those of the Classes of 1960-2
predominately, was just so funny, funny, funny. No doubt others would
add expansive adverbs, reflecting the widespread effect of the encounter
upon fraternity. Fabulous; absolutely fabulous and anybody of those
years is encouraged to contact Robert, who is a welcoming and delightful
host but numbers are limited.
Photo
It was an
opportunity to deliver Frank Restuccia’s regards to someone who,
at one stage, was listed in the B&B’s Lost & Found: Roland Mackay
[Class of 1962]. Peter Derriman [Class of 1962] had to rush back
to Victoria the day before, to sandbag his property due to the rising
flood waters. If anybody sees Pete floating by, the sandbagging didn’t
work.
Frank O’Young
[Class of 1962] independently connected with old classmate Grahame
Turner and both undoubtedly swapped tales, as they each are not only
well-travelled but also preparing to head off on new overseas
adventures.
Duane Norris
[Class of 1963] writes, “I missed Tony Bray and Richard Mason,
Bob Woog and John Gallagher, to name but a few at the last
reunion. I would be grateful if you could mention in your ramblings a
message to them apologising for not catching up.”
John Stanley
[Class of 1964] writes, “I had
unfortunately been relying on my brother [Geoff Stanley Class of
1963] over the years for info in relation to Old boys re-unions. He had
been to a couple of them quite a few years ago but forgot to inform me
as to when they were on. He lived in Sydney and I in Gunnedah. After the
last re-union he went to, he apologised that he didn't let me know it
was on but said it would be the last one as the Brother, who was the
organizer, was in bad health.
Geoff now lives in Terrigal and I am still in
Gunnedah.
My wife Jacinta is a Gunnedah girl and I met
her at Reg Longhurst's wedding in Inverell. We are both retired
now. Jacinta was a primary school teacher at the local catholic primary
school and I was an Office Manager at several local businesses.
We have five children-four girls and one boy,
all grown up now of course.
We keep ourselves busy these days with
voluntary work with the church and St. Vincent de Paul conference work.
Again Many Thanks Kym
and Regards
John
Karam Ramrakha [Class of 1949] shares this with us:
When I tell them Moslems simply took over
Cordoba Mosque the pundits laugh at me..
Did you know there still are Catholic symbols
in the Al Hambra .. in the same way there are sacred Hindu symbols in
Taj Mahal
Here is a book on Origin of Mosque at Cordoba..
why have a mosque with forest of pillars.. look up the edifice on your
internet
Islam enjoys a false conceit and has had a
charmed run.. to challenge them in any way brings cries of
Islamophobia.. no other religion iz met with the tag even on the
slightest criticism
Pass it.. the Moslems want Andalusia restored
to them.. the Moors were nomads and if they could build such stuff in
Spain why not in their native country.. no cdonqueror builds in a
conquered country what they do not have or have built in their Mother
Country.. e.g. Greece, Rome and Britain..
[The full contribution of Karam is available at
02-Karam]
Vince Restuccia
[Class of 1962]
enquired about an OBU Honour Board for Vietnam vets.
We don’t have
one. We should have one. Any suggestions for its creation and placement
would be appreciated..
In Memoriam:
Frank O’Connor
[Class of 1948] passed away earlier this year. Frank was in Mark
Sinclair’s class and they continued to play squash together for many
years.
R.I.P. Frank
Peter Vild
[Class of 1968] Devoted husband of Celia (dec).
Passed away on August 4th 2017. Late of
Chatswood
Aged 66 years
R.I.P. Peter
Alan
Musgrave
[Class of 1950] passed away on Nov. 5th 2017. Old Classmate,
Des Donovan, wrote,
“For
those who remember Alan at school, they would agree with me, that he was
never a sportsman nor indeed a brilliant academic, but he made up
for all this with his wonderful personality which made him very
successful in the challenges which he faced and defeated in his
amazing business career. Because of his honest dealings with clients and
associates he had built up over time he was successful in approximately
7 or 8 businesses which started mostly from scratch. His two important
standouts were 1. He built up a chain of 27 kitchenware shops throughout
Queensland. The second was that he lived up to the school motto ‘SERVO
FIDEM‘ ( I KEEP THE FAITH).
His
funeral at St. Thomas Aquinas, Brisbane, was huge although he was out of
circulation for the last 8-10 years with a combination of two very
serious conditions, being Parkinson’s Disease and then in the end
Dementia. The burial service, before a congregation of about 250, was
conducted by two priest friends and I had the honour of delivering the
eulogy.”
R.I.P. Alan
Fact or Fiction:
The
Future of Warfare – or not?
An amazing contribution by
John Gallagher [Class of 1967]
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Another amazing contribution, this
time by Bernie York (Class of ’64) back recently from doing the
local rounds of Perth and Caloundra.
Lifestyles:
Alternatives
for keeping fit. Peter Derriman [Class of 1962] has mastered the
latter and swears by it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Beyond Blue
continues to provide support for anxiety and depression, providing
resources for recovery, management and
resilience.
www.beyondblue.org.au
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Looking forward to seeing you at
what will be yet another FABULOUS reunion for the Darlo OBU in 2018.
Servo fidem
Kym Derriman
Gatekeeper
*LC Year refers to those who sat the LC or HSC in that year and also to their classmates who left school in earlier years.
President, OBU
Kym Derriman
9311 3344
Vice President
Tony Morrissey
9311 4598
Secretary/Treasurer
Bill Halcro
9661 7710
Marist Executive
Br. Paul Murphy
0449 640540
Tony Smith
Asst. Treasurer
Philip Hogan
Asst. Secretary
Bernard York
Board Member
Sports Portfolio
Jay Robertson
All mail to:
The Secretary,
MBHSD_OBU
20 Paterson St
Matraville 2036
eMail:
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