THE PROGRAM
FRIDAY 6 November 2015
Those who slept over on Friday night came to Banksia Conference Centre, collected their name tags, found their room and settled in. Most went to the Tradies Club up the road at Helensburg. Supper was at 8 pm at The Tops in Banksia Conference Centre where there was more time to meet and greet, reminisce and discover how much they had forgotten in less than a mere 60 years.
Those who slept over on Friday night came to Banksia Conference Centre, collected their name tags, found their room and settled in. Most went to the Tradies Club up the road at Helensburg. Supper was at 8 pm at The Tops in Banksia Conference Centre where there was more time to meet and greet, reminisce and discover how much they had forgotten in less than a mere 60 years.
from
SATURDAY 7 November 2015
8:00 Hot breakfast in dining hall next to Banksia Conference Centre
8:30 – 10:00 Free time & Arrivals
New arrivals came straight to Banksia Conference Centre, collected name tags; those staying overnight found allocated rooms and settled in; meet and greet. Explore conference centre and the extensive grounds of The Tops. Beryl Handley-Shaw and Tony Taylor kindly took care of name tags, programs, sold copies of 'To Enlighten Them Our Task', and generally directed people to rooms and around the conference centre. Thanks are due to them and to all the others who made the reunion work so smoothly.
10:00 Morning tea
10:15 Official Welcome in the Auditorium
Our 1956 president of the Student Representative Council, Dr Bill Summers, welcomed all and spoke about how the reunion came into being, how former students and lecturers were found, and how this weekend would give us 'the chance to meet again those who have left our lives, ... to hear their stories, learn of their achievements and marvel at their accomplishments ... and to give us a second chance perhaps, to pick up on that friendship which we had thought was lost.' Bill's welcome speech can be found on the Addresses page under Welcome Address.
Greetings & apologies from those who couldn't attend were read to the reunion by Margaret Sedgman-Shaw and Tony Re.
In Memorium for the 25 of our colleagues from the 1956-57 group who we know have died and for the 4 or 5 others who we could not locate and strongly suspect have died. Pam Blundell-Emerson acknowledged the warmth of their friendship during college days; recognised their commitment and service to education; remembered their importance to their families; and grieved with those left behind who still feel their loss. She then invited all to stand while Katrine Jones-Capps and Frank Knowles read out the names of those who had died. This was followed by a time of contemplative silence which ended with the singing of the college anthem. Chris Rae-Thorley was on keyboard and it was surprising that former students who probably hadn't sung the anthem since 1957 were able (given the words) to sing it as if the last assembly in the hall at Balmain was only last week.
The College Anthem –Led by Jim Fletcher. The MSS of the original college anthem was unearthed by Val Hislop-O'Regan in the Australian National Library. These are the August 1946 manuscript signed by Alfred Hill, and a second one shortly after in September 1946. (Copies can be seen on the College Anthem page.) Alfred Hill was one of Australia's foremost composers, and Ella Turnbull wrote the words. The original words will surprise/dismay you. Frank Catt had a hand in the anthem being created.
Then followed a unique performance of the original song by a small group, unique in that this was the first time that the music composed for the first anthem was sung as written, and it was unique because it was a quartet sung by a trio of Betty Payne-McKeogh, Jim Fletcher and Graeme Lees, and still sounded OK. Chris Thorley was again on the keyboard.
Group photo
The group photos from the 1978 reunion did not turn out, so we invited a photographer from Artistic Photography to come along and take photos of the reunion. And she did an excellent job. We had group photos of all at the reunion, then just former students, including those from other years than 1956-57, then smaller groups as required. The photographs taken can be seen on the Artistic website at http://artisticphotographysydney.com.au/#/gallery/balmain-teachers-college/dsc-36941/
12:30 Lunch in the dining hall
1:30 Afternoon session (Chaired by Peter O'Brien)
Guest Speakers
Dave Stamp gave a very revealing account of his experience of Balmain Teachers College as a lecturer. The text of David's talk can be found on the Addresses page
Judy Taylor, who co-authored the history of Balmain Teachers College, To Enlighten Them Our Task, began by interviewing two former lecturers on their views of college life in the 1950s. These lecturers would be remembered by former students with much affection: the biology lecturer, Marjorie Morrow, who would be 110 years this year; and physical education lecturer, George Turnbull, who would be only 94 this year. For those who weren't at the reunion we need to point out that both these lecturers are now dead, but in the 1990s Judy Taylor interviewed them both and still has the typescript of the interviews. So for a short time Colleen Huntington-Lloyd was Marj Morrow, and Ross Adams was George Turnbull, and to the questions asked by Judy, they answered as they had in the 1990s interviews.
Judy then went on to give her views on the history of Balmain Teachers College in an attempt to enlighten us and to stimulate us to examine our own experience of college and what happened to us there. The full text of Judy's address can be found on the Addresses page
We had copies of To Enlighten Them Our Task available, for $5 each. This was thanks to Tony Taylor who had been very good friends with the other co-author of the book (now deceased) and had been able to get several boxes of books from his wife.
Forum: The Balmain Experience: extracts from 'To Enlighten Them Our Task'
Then followed an open discussion on how college had affected people's lives, some of the faults and some of the strengths of Balmain Teachers College, and how some lecturers had been turning points in people's lives.
3:00 Afternoon Tea
3:30 – 4:00 Photo Time
Slide show of photographs sent in by ex-students of their time at college and later. We tried to get Norm Birch's video that he sent via Pam Blundell-Emerson, showing Norm playing the piano and giving us greetings (we think) because although we could get the films we couldn't get any sound, so it was reserved for later.
Free time to walk and talk before dinner. Also time to practice concert events.
6:00 Dinner in dining hall
Dr Bill Andersen, one of our former lecturers arrived after dinner. Bill is in his early 90s and is still well and very active as a counsellor. The reason he was arriving at this time was because he was attending a course at Sydney University. We were so pleased that he thought our reunion was worth while attending.
7:30 Concert
Compered by Carol Fletcher. Some wonderful items too amazing to describe, but mostly very funny.
Supper, more talking, then for the 34 sleeping overnight, it was beddie-byes after a busy day.
SATURDAY 7 November 2015
8:00 Hot breakfast in dining hall next to Banksia Conference Centre
8:30 – 10:00 Free time & Arrivals
New arrivals came straight to Banksia Conference Centre, collected name tags; those staying overnight found allocated rooms and settled in; meet and greet. Explore conference centre and the extensive grounds of The Tops. Beryl Handley-Shaw and Tony Taylor kindly took care of name tags, programs, sold copies of 'To Enlighten Them Our Task', and generally directed people to rooms and around the conference centre. Thanks are due to them and to all the others who made the reunion work so smoothly.
10:00 Morning tea
10:15 Official Welcome in the Auditorium
Our 1956 president of the Student Representative Council, Dr Bill Summers, welcomed all and spoke about how the reunion came into being, how former students and lecturers were found, and how this weekend would give us 'the chance to meet again those who have left our lives, ... to hear their stories, learn of their achievements and marvel at their accomplishments ... and to give us a second chance perhaps, to pick up on that friendship which we had thought was lost.' Bill's welcome speech can be found on the Addresses page under Welcome Address.
Greetings & apologies from those who couldn't attend were read to the reunion by Margaret Sedgman-Shaw and Tony Re.
In Memorium for the 25 of our colleagues from the 1956-57 group who we know have died and for the 4 or 5 others who we could not locate and strongly suspect have died. Pam Blundell-Emerson acknowledged the warmth of their friendship during college days; recognised their commitment and service to education; remembered their importance to their families; and grieved with those left behind who still feel their loss. She then invited all to stand while Katrine Jones-Capps and Frank Knowles read out the names of those who had died. This was followed by a time of contemplative silence which ended with the singing of the college anthem. Chris Rae-Thorley was on keyboard and it was surprising that former students who probably hadn't sung the anthem since 1957 were able (given the words) to sing it as if the last assembly in the hall at Balmain was only last week.
The College Anthem –Led by Jim Fletcher. The MSS of the original college anthem was unearthed by Val Hislop-O'Regan in the Australian National Library. These are the August 1946 manuscript signed by Alfred Hill, and a second one shortly after in September 1946. (Copies can be seen on the College Anthem page.) Alfred Hill was one of Australia's foremost composers, and Ella Turnbull wrote the words. The original words will surprise/dismay you. Frank Catt had a hand in the anthem being created.
Then followed a unique performance of the original song by a small group, unique in that this was the first time that the music composed for the first anthem was sung as written, and it was unique because it was a quartet sung by a trio of Betty Payne-McKeogh, Jim Fletcher and Graeme Lees, and still sounded OK. Chris Thorley was again on the keyboard.
Group photo
The group photos from the 1978 reunion did not turn out, so we invited a photographer from Artistic Photography to come along and take photos of the reunion. And she did an excellent job. We had group photos of all at the reunion, then just former students, including those from other years than 1956-57, then smaller groups as required. The photographs taken can be seen on the Artistic website at http://artisticphotographysydney.com.au/#/gallery/balmain-teachers-college/dsc-36941/
12:30 Lunch in the dining hall
1:30 Afternoon session (Chaired by Peter O'Brien)
Guest Speakers
Dave Stamp gave a very revealing account of his experience of Balmain Teachers College as a lecturer. The text of David's talk can be found on the Addresses page
Judy Taylor, who co-authored the history of Balmain Teachers College, To Enlighten Them Our Task, began by interviewing two former lecturers on their views of college life in the 1950s. These lecturers would be remembered by former students with much affection: the biology lecturer, Marjorie Morrow, who would be 110 years this year; and physical education lecturer, George Turnbull, who would be only 94 this year. For those who weren't at the reunion we need to point out that both these lecturers are now dead, but in the 1990s Judy Taylor interviewed them both and still has the typescript of the interviews. So for a short time Colleen Huntington-Lloyd was Marj Morrow, and Ross Adams was George Turnbull, and to the questions asked by Judy, they answered as they had in the 1990s interviews.
Judy then went on to give her views on the history of Balmain Teachers College in an attempt to enlighten us and to stimulate us to examine our own experience of college and what happened to us there. The full text of Judy's address can be found on the Addresses page
We had copies of To Enlighten Them Our Task available, for $5 each. This was thanks to Tony Taylor who had been very good friends with the other co-author of the book (now deceased) and had been able to get several boxes of books from his wife.
Forum: The Balmain Experience: extracts from 'To Enlighten Them Our Task'
Then followed an open discussion on how college had affected people's lives, some of the faults and some of the strengths of Balmain Teachers College, and how some lecturers had been turning points in people's lives.
3:00 Afternoon Tea
3:30 – 4:00 Photo Time
Slide show of photographs sent in by ex-students of their time at college and later. We tried to get Norm Birch's video that he sent via Pam Blundell-Emerson, showing Norm playing the piano and giving us greetings (we think) because although we could get the films we couldn't get any sound, so it was reserved for later.
Free time to walk and talk before dinner. Also time to practice concert events.
6:00 Dinner in dining hall
Dr Bill Andersen, one of our former lecturers arrived after dinner. Bill is in his early 90s and is still well and very active as a counsellor. The reason he was arriving at this time was because he was attending a course at Sydney University. We were so pleased that he thought our reunion was worth while attending.
7:30 Concert
Compered by Carol Fletcher. Some wonderful items too amazing to describe, but mostly very funny.
Supper, more talking, then for the 34 sleeping overnight, it was beddie-byes after a busy day.
SUNDAY 8 November 2015
8:00 Hot breakfast in dining hall
Bedrooms were vacated by 10 am and people were free to walk and talk.
10:00 Morning tea
10:30 The Final Act of Corporate Worship -- Drs Alan Rice and Bill Andersen
At the end of each college year there was what was called 'a Final Act of Corporate Worship', designed to brace students for their coming examinations and to bid farewell to them, in the expectation that they would be working in schools scattered across the country and rarely meet their former colleagues. The idea was to carry this imagery to today's very Final Act of Corporate Worship, indicating that we will again be scattered across the country and will only see some of our former colleagues on occasion, and for all of us life's toughest examinations have yet to be undertaken. We had a copy of the 1957 Final Act of Corporate Worship which Alan Rice used as a model for a period of worship attended by almost all. Bill Andersen played the hymns from memory and also gave a short address that had the stamp of authority from one who had thought long and hard over the years.
11:30 Trivia Time -- Conducted most ably by Mary Schneider-Earls and husband, Maurie Earls. Maurie had been in the 1955-56 cohort at Balmain.
They threw mind- and memory- challenging questions at us, based mostly on college days. The discussion then was very open, humorous and informative. Although no prizes were given for effort, improvement, good behaviour, citizenship, attention to detail, good writing, or sitting up straight, this was a great session. I think they gave out lollies at the end.
12:30 Lunch
We were to have more things after lunch but during lunch it was clear that most people were exhausted by the events of the last few days. So we said our farewells and left The Tops about 2pm after what was a most enjoyable time.
8:00 Hot breakfast in dining hall
Bedrooms were vacated by 10 am and people were free to walk and talk.
10:00 Morning tea
10:30 The Final Act of Corporate Worship -- Drs Alan Rice and Bill Andersen
At the end of each college year there was what was called 'a Final Act of Corporate Worship', designed to brace students for their coming examinations and to bid farewell to them, in the expectation that they would be working in schools scattered across the country and rarely meet their former colleagues. The idea was to carry this imagery to today's very Final Act of Corporate Worship, indicating that we will again be scattered across the country and will only see some of our former colleagues on occasion, and for all of us life's toughest examinations have yet to be undertaken. We had a copy of the 1957 Final Act of Corporate Worship which Alan Rice used as a model for a period of worship attended by almost all. Bill Andersen played the hymns from memory and also gave a short address that had the stamp of authority from one who had thought long and hard over the years.
11:30 Trivia Time -- Conducted most ably by Mary Schneider-Earls and husband, Maurie Earls. Maurie had been in the 1955-56 cohort at Balmain.
They threw mind- and memory- challenging questions at us, based mostly on college days. The discussion then was very open, humorous and informative. Although no prizes were given for effort, improvement, good behaviour, citizenship, attention to detail, good writing, or sitting up straight, this was a great session. I think they gave out lollies at the end.
12:30 Lunch
We were to have more things after lunch but during lunch it was clear that most people were exhausted by the events of the last few days. So we said our farewells and left The Tops about 2pm after what was a most enjoyable time.