The East Avenue Advocate Incorporating The Cudmore Terrace Chronicle The Inaugural Edition – Could be the First of a Series
In case you haven’t noticed we’re not getting any
Class of 67 it’s time. Time we had another Get-together.
We’re On Off Your Facebook
Why? …Well just in case someone’s searching for us. Want to check the page? Just ask a 4 year old how to do it.
The numbers are growing steadily. At last count there will be about 25 of us at the Alberton Hotel on Friday 29 July. Interstate visitors will includePeter Bracken who’s coming down from Darwin and Vincent Plush who’s coming over from Canberra. Some of the staff will be there like Miss O’Connor, (she now calls herself Mary Warbichler and is in her eighties) but we know who she is. It will be great to see her after all this time. Other staff to put their hands up include Peter Wallace, Bernie Neville, Michael McFarlane and John Grant. Some of them have changed their names too. A piano has been specifically brought in for the occasion so you can be sure that the entertainment will be top class. Start learning the words to Billy Joel's “Piano Man” so you don't just have to hum along! Have some memorabilia you’d like to share? Bring it with you. No memorabilia just memories? Bring them to share too. We might have a “share and tell”. Now I remember when we had that Prefect’s Dance and…. Spread the word. The list on page 10 is still pretty The East Avenue Advocate
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thin. If each of us added one more email address the numbers would double. That’s a fact. I asked a mathematician. Stephen Jeisman’s doing all the hard work pulling the event together. He’ll keep us updated. Page 1
Class of ’59… founding members of the Class of ’67
Seen on Ebay…..
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A Selection from one of the Shoe Boxes
Opening of Henley Beach 1967
Leigh Johnson and David Weston Authorised Holden Drivers 1967
The Tuck Shop Ewhen Kaczmarski, Robert Keane, David Weston and Andrew Piercy in Melbourne on school tour. (Top left is unknown younger kid!)
Olly, Terry Hannan (class below us) and Leigh Johnson Tony Randle, Andrew Piercy Leigh Johnson and Robert Scerri
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From the Archives‌1
To see who was selected look on Page 7. Ed
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From the Archives‌2
Anyone remember Maria Goretti? The East Avenue Advocate
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From the Archives‌3
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From the Archives‌4
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From the Archives‌5
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From the Archives‌6
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Class List 1959 to 1967 Adami, Robert Alvino, Lou Atkins,P Baggio,Lou Bagnara,P Ballestrin,Silvo Bendyk,H Blackburn, David Bloffwitch, Frank Bourne,Chris Bracken, John Bracken, Peter Burford, Stephen Carey, Ron Clarke, Patrick Cosenza, Tony Cottle, Bruce Coutts, Reg Cronin, Robert Crowley, Des Dan,Darryl De Faveri, Ivan Dickson, James Dienhoff, John Dwyer Michael Dwyer Scott Eckhold,P Farese, Sabino Farmer,Gavin Field, Richard Filipovic,A Forrest, Simon Forrester, James Furman, Andrew Gardiner,J Geracitano, Joe Haag, Michael Harrold, Chris Hart, Tom Hayes, Peter Horsell, Kevin Hutt, Terry Jeisman, Stephen Johnson, Leigh Johnson, Ron Jordon, Anton Kaczmarsky Ewhen Keane, Peter Keane, Robert Kinloch, Robert Kube, Walter Kuszezakowsi,S Ladzinski,G Larecki, Michael Lau,H Lawless, Larry Leonard, Michael Lisle, Roger Liu,J Mahoney, Robert Maier,M Maier, Norbert Marozzi,Peter Martini.J McArthur, Patrick McDonnell, Edward McEntee, David
rjkadami1@optusnet.com.au
brackies@bigpond.net.au Peter.B.Bracken@marsh.com peterbracken052@gmail.com sjburford@hotmail.com
reg.coutts@couttscommunications.com reginald.coutts@adelaide.edu.au
ivan.defavari@state.sa.gov.au m.dwyer6@gmail.com
andfur@optusnet.com.au
alpkcath@bigpond.net.au Deceased stephen.jeisman@adelaide.edu.au leighj@adam.com.au
uskeanes@gmail.com Deceased
Moss, Ray Mutch, Colin Mazzocca,E Nelson, Tony Noonan, Michael
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ptmck@hotmail.com
much50@iprimus.com.au
Norman,J North, Trevor Noy, Daryl O’Brien,Kerry O’Brien, Terry O’ Gorman,L O’Leary, M Olesinski,Dick Orell, Tadjua Pangrazio, Daniel Pastuch, George Piercy, Andrew Pilkington, Paul Piovesan, Angelo Poel,William Plush, Vincent Ragghianti, Eugene Randle, Tony Reardon,Michael Reay, Michael Reynolds, Michael Riggs, Graham Robb,Chris Robinson, Chris Round, Michael Russo, Frank Ryan, John Santin,Dean Scerri,Robert Shallow, Michael Shallow, Paul Shanahan, Robert Skrzypczak,Roman Slaven, John Sparrow, Michael Storic,Dean Sullivan, E(?) Sullivan, Michael Titley, Dean Tons, John Trainor, Michael Trowse, Mark Ward, Michael, Warrick,Kevin Weston, David Wodson,G Woolcock, Paul Wolanin, Andrew Yeo, Bill
Deceased Deceased
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McKenzie Terry McLoughlin, John McMahon, Patrick McMahon, Robert Meakes,Roger Meaks, Robert Meegan,Anthony Mercurio, Nicky Meich,J Miller, Patrick Mitchell, George Moriarty, Des
ecomarketing@senet.com.au denis.orell@bhs.sa.edu.au
paulp@ratebusters.com.au piovesan.angelo@lmc.sa.gov.au vincent.plush@nfsa.gov.au eugeneragg@gmail.com; e.ragghianti@bigpond.com
chris.robinson1@bigpond.com fsrusso@internode.on.net
Deceased roman@senet.com.au Noelene.Slaven@dfc.sa.gov.au dddf@darwin.catholic.org.au
Deceased john@arkabakennels.com.au michael.trainor@flinders.edu.au
Deceased byeo@marbill.com.au
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The Dwyer Diaries Fête Find leads to Small Fortune – a very small fortune
a few times so its days really were numbered. Ah! Those were the days, my friends … In Memoriam
by Elliot Dwyer I don’t suppose you lads would remember the early restoration work we did while at SMC Beverley. The first car, a Vauxhall Wyvern (1948) purchased at the SMC fete in 1964 for £11.10s, was a “Tourer” i.e. it had a removable, soft top – “soft” being the relevant word. Anyway, the leather or vinyl or whatever it was in those days rapidly collapsed and the lads who we were charging threepence to travel to school from the beach reckoned they weren’t getting good value for their money when it rained! The answer was of course, to get a new roof but cash was (as ever) the problem and we figured we could do it ourselves. So, with a wooden bit (fashioned by the local carpenter) across the top of the windscreen, we proceeded to screw on a sheet of galvanised iron, delicately cut with the old man’s tin snips and bent to the required shape. I think we still had original side curtains of some sort.
the University of Adelaide’s Barr Smith steps one Prosh Day. He says he would still have been at St Michaels because he remembers “taking the day off” to take part in the Prosh fun. He adds that the Dwyer Rileys figured prominently in the first SMOCA car trials and recalls eating bar b que pigeon where “we had to spit out the lead shot”. More on Dwyers and Rileys on Page 14.
Ed. PS Wyvern engines were easy to come by and a year or so later when our Riley developed a very smokey exhaust due to loose rings, we discovered the pots were the same size as the Wyvern so we simply installed old Vauxhall cylinder rings, and off we went again. Michael Dwyer describes himself as "a bit of a bicycle nut" these days.
Practising what he Preaches
Editor’s Note:
Elliot Dwyer, the eldest of the Dwyer Boys, was ahead of us. However, he could not resist the opportunity to contribute to our newsletter on behalf of his siblings, Scott and Michael. My recollection that the Bracken Boys were the only brothers that were part of our class between 1959 and 1967 were totally destroyed when I reviewed the photographs and found that both Michael and Scott were together in the 1967 class. John Tons recalls one famous episode that Elliot neglected to mention. He’s sure it was one of the Vauxhalls that was used to cart a number of characters up the steps of
He says we'll all be using them when when the world’s oil supply finally starts to get really short. Last Christmas he and his spouse went on a leisurely ride to Perth and back! When he’s not cycling, his area of study is Peak Oil ......and gardening.
The Dwyers set off for WA on their Pino semi-recumbent. Inset: A better view of the Pino.
Minding that we didn’t cut fingers on the sharp edges, we then proceeded to SMC. However, we found it made a dreadful booming racket as the flat galv (we didn’t use corrugated iron, but it might have avoided the booming noise) reverberated in the breeze, so we got some old carpet, cut that to the required shape and glued it to the galv (inside, in case you wondered) and off we went again. The Wyvern ended its days at Sims Scrap Metal at Thebarton, being good money before the Hamersley iron ore discoveries, thus adding to our considerable fortune, after taking something of a hammering on the 1966 Prosh Day Parade up Pulteney Street, but we had driven it in the sea
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It’s Been Only 44 Years JohnTons is on a Mission “I guess we’re all getting older and beginning to creak a bit”, John mused as we sat down to discuss his rich life. “In my case, he said, “most of my problems could be solved by losing weight but I’m determined to prove that Darwin meant survival of the fattest not Fittest!” John is married to Susan and together they run Arkaba Kennels in a lovely part of the Adelaide Hills . They have two children. One is busy setting up her own fashion label in Melbourne, the other, John says, is "doing something in computing which seems to mean he spends most of his time flying around the country".
worked alongside another former SMC student, Peter Cunningham. In 1985, Stephen left the permanent Navy and briefly returned to teaching before becoming careers counsellor at the University of South Australia for a period of 16 years and then moved across to the Quality Assurance unit at the University of Adelaide. In 2005, Stephen returned to full time service with the Navy for 12 months and worked as personnel officer with the Patrol Boat Squadron in Darwin. Stephen is married with one daughter and two grandchildren.
Coutts Communications Reg in 1974
John's supposed to be completing a PhD this year - his topic is global justice. He complains that the only problem is that there is so much stuff being written in the area that he is forever redrafting as he comes across yet another article. He wishes “those buggers” would go off and fish and leave him to complete it in peace. He says on the basis of his experience he wouldn't really recommend doing a Ph.D. He started it in 1977 then when his son was born in March 1978 Reg says he’s also been on an interesting journey since leaving school. had to get some real money and only went back to it as it was unfinished After completing his undergraduate studies business. in Electrical Engineering and PhD at the Both he and Mike Dwyer are active in University of Adelaide, he moved to Melbourne to join the Telstra (then Beyond Oil SA. Telecom Australia) research laboratories spending eighteen years overall in Telstra http://beyond-oil.com/ moving through to become the director of strategy in the early national mobile communications business.
Stephen Jeisman’s Journey
He moved back to Adelaide to academia in 1993 as the inaugural Professor of After completing an Arts degree at the Telecommunications at the University of Adelaide where his multidisciplinary team University of Adelaide, Stephen worked with industry both in Australia and taught English, History and overseas during the first wave of spectrum Economics for a few years before management reform. joining the Navy and worked in various locations around Australia. While based in Sydney in 1980, he The East Avenue Advocate
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Since leaving the University in 1994 as Emeritus Professor, Reg has consulted to business and Government through Coutts Communications www.couttscommunications.com and since 2009 chairs his new venture Red Button Technologies www.redbutton.com.au He’s also actively involved in developing the ICT profession and is the Director of the Telecommunications Board of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) formerly known as the Telecommunications Society of Australia (TSA). Reg was appointed to the Government’s Broadband Expert Panel in 2008 which recommended the broad framework for the current NBN being rolled out and in 2010 was appointed a part time member of the ICT regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority www.acma.gov.au (ACMA) He's been married for 30 years describing it as a "second time success" and lives on 20 acres outside of Hahndorf. They have two children. He reckons that Adelaide is a great city in which to be brought up and live but laments that "nothing in my industry happens here!"
Andy Furman Achieves Lazarus Status Andy, who describes himself as “60 years young” achieved notoriety in 2009 by dropping dead on Easter Thursday 9th April while at work with the City of Onkaparinga (Noarlunga) as Major Project Manager. He resurrected on the following Easter Sunday. He retired in 2010 mainly due to medical reasons (cardio bypass surgery; ischemic stroke; acute arrhythmia and cardiac arrest etc etc… And would you believe that his most recent projects included working with Surf Life Saving SA (Moana, Christies Beach - new clubrooms and infrastructure) with considerable liaison with Dick Olesinski. Continued on page 13 Page 12
Andy’s been married for 35 years to a wonderful Taperoo girl,Lila - nee Boron and has two “exceptional children” of whom they are very proud. Their son Antoni is 34 yrs old, a Major in the Australian Army/Royal Australian Artillery and his current role is project manager responsible for Defence Dept materiel/procurement at Russell ACT. He has seen military action in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. Their daughter Alicia is 30 years old and is a very capable Family Law lawyer with David Burrell and Co (David is a former
diplomat and "agent provocateur". He is currently working on his first e-publication, a cultural investigation of Patrick White's Voss, a collaboration between the National Library of Australia and the NFSA, destined to be released in May 2012, at the apex of the White centenary celebrations. Details of his life, work, writing and musical compositions are in his (still embryonic) website: www.vincentplush.com
student a year or two ahead of our class Ed). Both children are
Married to Vonnie whom he describes as his best mate, they have two “great kids”, Stefan aged 33 and Aisha 32. Ollie represented SA as a member of the Surf Life Saving movement in surf boats in 1976 and then as Manager in '89 and '90. He also represented Australia in Surf Life Saving at Rescue 86 as part of the Expo in Vancouver. The photograph was taken in Queensland last year after they won a silver medal “in good size surf”. He says he is not retiring yet and intends to work until he is in his mid 60's. He is currently a national judge for the Keep Australia Beautiful's Australian Tidy Towns award program and has been for 16 years. He describes it as "one of life's greatest experiences, and most humbling seeing what regional Australia is doing to keep their patch of the nation sustainable".
unattached. Andy says he has no grandkids that he knows of.
The Furmans are renovating their home at Grange. Well, Andy is while Lila is still working with Families SA (formerly SA Housing Trust). They have three pooches (2 Pomeranians and 1 Beagle). Andy says his hobbies include military aviation (Temora Aviation Museum NSW), and music (you might recall he was a band member and squeeze box player). He’s a strong supporter of the Polish Folklore Ensemble “Tatry” in Adelaide who are soon to head off to their second folkloric festival in Rzeszow Poland.
management that, in his words “unbelievably has helped in my current role as an environmental consultant”.
Editor’s Note There’s on old saying about lifesavers in surf boats…I just can’t remember what it is. Ed.
Dick (Olly) Olesinski
In his spare time Andy looks after his Ollie's hair may have left him but his 91 year old father - who is tracking better than Andy is - still independent, memories won’t go away. driving his car and living at his home His memories of being picked up by at Woodville West. constable Huffa somewhere between Semaphore and Beverley while hitchhiking They hope to travel overseas more with Tony (Frog) Nelson and constantly after the renovations are completed. dodging Bro Finbar and Gregory will stay with him forever.
Vincent Plush
Since February 2007, Vincent has been based in Canberra where he heads the Research division of the National Film and Sound Archive. He also teaches part-time at the Australian National University, curates the Encounters events at the Queensland Conservatorium, writes arts reviews for The Australian and has been an occasional producer-presenter on ABC Classic FM. From 1981-99, he lived mostly in North America, working as a college professor, journalist, cultural The East Avenue Advocate
He says he still has bad dreams about getting the strap for not wearing those terrible caps! See photo alongside. Ed Like many others, he recalls that he couldn't get out of school quickly enough! After he left he worked in various jobs but ended up in The Dept of Environment & Natural Resources as a Community Education Officer. He had a go at doing a Marketing Degree but found that statistics was not his favourite subject and gave it away. However, he did get a qualification in sales
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A young Bill Yeo in one of those caps. The arm on the shoulder belongs to Lazarus Furman. Sadly, the photo quality is as good as it gets. It was the Editor’s first camera which let as much light into the case as it did into the lens. Ed Page 13
A Far Cry from Coach of the First XVIII and King of the Hit Parade Professor Dr. Bernie Neville MA Classics (Adel), PhD Education (La Trobe), Cert IV Assessment and Workplace Training
Dr Bernie Neville is Adjunct Professor of Education at La Trobe University where he has been involved for many years in the professional education of both teachers and counsellors. He is the author of “Educating Psyche: Emotion, Imagination and the Unconscious in Learning” and “Olympus Inc: Intervening for Cultural Change in Organizations” and numerous papers on Education and Counselling. He is President of the Australian Association for Holistic and Transpersonal Counselling.
Chance Meeting leads to Classic Car Crush in Later Life
long since disappeared) and 15 or so years ago when I got interested in owning an old car....there was only one choice. It had to be a Riley. Extraordinarily beautiful lines........long, majestic bonnet, need I go on? You can see what I mean in the photo. Then of course the frustration that comes with ownership. While many of us were studying French and Latin and the rest of us studying Geography and I can't remember what, friends at other lessadvantaged schools were studying practical stuff like metal work and woodwork.
No hint of useful stuff at SMC Beverley (unless you include Bro. Gregory’s Yr 7 craft classes with soap carving, match trays and airfix models). Do you know that Tony Nelson still has his match tray? He by our Motoring Correspondent brought it to the gathering in December last year. I think the only useful thing When I heard that John Tons was still about those classes was that it gave Bro in touch with Michael Dwyer it was an Gregory another opportunity to belt opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I'd someone around the ears. been waiting for a long time to give those Dwyer boys a piece of my Oh how I wish I could have done mind……….. before it all ran out. something useful instead of still, 50 years I blame them ………..all three of them collectively for my current lack of spare cash and continuing state of frustration. You see.......... it all goes back to, I think, 1967 when one afternoon one or more of them arrived at SMC Henley Beach in a Riley motor car. The memory of that event stayed in my brain (though many others have The East Avenue Advocate
on, being on a learning curve when it comes to threads and tools, distributors, spark plugs, nuts and bolts.
Sure I can remember that agricola, agricolae is a farmer and she is feminine (I've got Bro. William/ Bernard to thank that) but what use is she?
1952 2½ litre Riley Saloon made just after WW2 when there were shortages of just about everything. A bit of woodwork knowledge would be so useful. More on Rileys here: http://users.adam.com.au/leighj/html/riley sa.html
And what’s Eugene been up to? Eugene Ragghianti was the original South Australian baby boomer "burlesque artiste" of his generation and has been a not-so-serious actor, an entertainer and stand up comic in cabaret, music hall and nightclubs; a tour guide on buses to Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and the Lake District; the inaugural Drama teacher in Port Adelaide's Le Fevre Boys Technical High School (very dramatic!) and English teacher to wealthy Arabs in London. He’s been a TV star in Italy, an opera director of Scarlatti's opus The Triumph of Honour, a television producer for The Channel Niners and Here's Humphrey and an arts manager of various organisations in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. He was in Alice Springs for three years for his sins (which he says are manifold), being a festival director, having arrived there in a covered wagon in mid-2006.
And to boot the Riley has a coach-built body ie a wooden frame covered, in the case Continued on next page. of my car, with some steel, a few metres of vinyl and some aluminium having been
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In February 2009 he took off on a two month cruise from Melbourne to Southampton. The Great Wall was great but he says it was exhausting to climb and the Arabs around the Pyramids had no dignity and showed contempt for cashed-up infidels. He was happy to say "Goodbye Dubai" where he saw the world premiere of that musical Seven Brides for Two Brothers. After arriving in Europe he lived on the Continent in Italy for 8 months, returning home via the States where he saw Placido Domingo at the New York Met and received a citation from the Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland, where he was an exchange student all those years ago. Some of you might have even shed a tear when he hopped on the tin bird in July 1967.
Every time I hear the dirty word “exercise�, I wash my mouth out with chocolate. The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say, Well, he looks good doesn't he.
I'm pleased to say that there were some contributions which you can see in the preceding pages. My e-mail urgings If you are going to try cross-country skiing, produced fewer than anticipated. However, they were clearly of outstanding start with a small country. quality.
I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years,......just getting over the hill. We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Some Thoughts on Turning 60
Walking can add minutes to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home. My father started walking 5k a day when he was 60. Now he's 97 years old and we don't know where he is. I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.
Quick Quiz
Name that Teacher Who were: Atho (Boy, we were so adventurous with our nicknames) Bananas Big Ben Chook Dreamer Ferret Javelin (hint pillum is latin for spear) Slim Jim Weed Willy Neatest correct entry including JMJ and SJB headers on the page will receive a meet and greet with Ms Maria Goretti at a time not of their choosing.
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The latest update on what's happening with regard to the get-together in July was to be included (page 1)and the latest update of the class list (page 10).
I found a lot of stuff that just had to be used including some photographs. I had forgotten about a lot of what I found in the treasure trove.
My mum was a bit of a hoarder. So we can thank her for the Archives. I inherited that gene so the archives for my children are reasonably large by now. It was also an opportunity to test my photographic slide- to- digital image converter which, up to this point, had not been used in anger. And so, at the end of the day there it is for all to see. I hope that the content of the "East Avenue Advocate" has brought back some memories fond or otherwise. There may be a future edition. Your contributions are very welcome.
Editorial
The idea of a newsletter emerged during discussion over a few beers at the Alberton Hotel in December.
I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing. I joined a gym last year, spent about $400 and haven't lost a kilo. Apparently you have to go there.
I have taken editorial licence and converted some of those contributions without changing the facts.
Every time I start thinking too much about how I look I just find a Happy Hour It was about then that I got carried away. and by the time I leave I look just fine. When I was trawling through the archives
Along the way he fitted in a BA (Hons) at Flinders and a BLitt from The University of Melbourne. At the young age of 61 years he continues to surprise himself by working and enjoying it.
Early ideas were along the lines that it would be a vehicle for some of us to tell the rest of us what they've been doing over the last 40 years or so.
Being retired and with a little bit of time on my hands I volunteered to bring it together.
April 2011
Leigh Johnson
Responsibility for the content of this newsletter is taken solely by the Editor
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