28 PLC i n Pri nt | J u ly 2 0 2 1
OCA President’s Report
Fundraising for OCA scholarships The PLC OCA is seeking donations from its members towards its scholarship funds. We currently fund PLC girls through the Helen Hailes Memorial Scholarship, The Old Collegians Scholarship and the Melba Music Scholarship. We can have six or seven girls per year receiving our scholarships. We usually fundraise during the year through functions but this year and last year, with COVID-19 impacting on our activities, many functions were cancelled or moved online. So we are making this request to Old Collegians to donate online so we can continue this important work. Donations can be made via online banking to BSB: 003-197, Account Number: 00900486, Account name: PLC OCA. Please indicate the name you want to have acknowledged in PLC In Print and which scholarship the donation is for. The Helen Hailes Memorial Scholarship was set up to honour Miss Hailes, a beloved Vice-Principal of the College, after her sudden death in 1958.
Thanks to Lauris Murnane Lauris Murnane (1955), past Vice-President of the OCA, was running the Birthday League over the last 13 years that fundraised for our scholarships. She put her heart and soul into working to help ‘get a girl to PLC’. Many Old Collegians would have received her handwritten birthday cards and thank you notes. We would like to thank her sincerely for her work and diligence over these years and wish her all the best.
Continuing the tradition Pam Booth (1958) who will be well-known to a number of our older Old Collegians is continuing the tradition of the Birthday League. Pam has been President of the PLC Old Collegians’ Mornington Peninsula branch and now lives in Melbourne. Pam knew Helen Hailes when she was at PLC, East Melbourne.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp (1986)
The OCA Community is growing on our PLC Melbourne OCA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ plcmelbourneoca This is a great space if you enjoy sharing memories and photos of House Concerts, musicals like Bye Bye Birdie in 1976, The Pirates of Penzance in 1999 or Beauty and the Beast in 2012 and the energy and excitement of rehearsals and performances of Gala Concerts, from Melba Chorale and massed choirs, to string ensembles and Jazz Cabaret. A PLC friend whom I met at church, years after we had both graduated, said to me, ‘Don’t you find every PLC friend you have never goes to Scotland without visiting the Scottish castle that their PLC House was named after?’. On such trips we now become quite envious of our Balmoral and Stirling friends and their lavish, restored castles, as we visit Athol, Glamis or Rosslyn. Many ‘Levenites’ are still reeling from the fact that their Leven castle is a historic ruin on an island where no one lives. Please jump onto Facebook and share your travel experiences – your moment at your Scottish castle. To build up the sense of intrigue I am sharing a snap from our 2019 trip, when I encouraged my husband to photograph me in an obscure corner of my castle, just to get you all thinking and exploring online. There are so many special PLC experiences and values that are timeless and transcend all decades. As President I am constantly intrigued by how much we all have in common, even if we were at PLC 20 or 30 years apart. Perhaps this is also because a PLC education equips us for life and gives us a foundation to understand many different experiences at various stages of our lives. We are looking forward to sharing with you, hearing about the teachers who encouraged you, the activities that stretched you and the key part of the PLC campus that is still vivid in your mind today. With ongoing lockdowns in Melbourne, the OCA made a strategic decision to put all our efforts into one big event in spring on Saturday, 13 November, 2021, when Lord Mayor Sally Capp (1986) will host us at the Melbourne Town Hall. With large reception areas, we anticipate that this central venue will allow us all to gather safely, according to government guidelines. This will be a wonderful time to hear Sally talk about her experiences, from PLC House Concerts to working with Melbourne’s homeless people. Online booking details to follow. Ailsa Wilson (Watson 1978) President – Old Collegians’ Association plc.melb.oca@gmail.com PLC OCA Facebook Page A place for Old Collegians to share photos and thoughts. We look forward to sharing with you at the PLC Melbourne OCA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/plcmelbourneoca/
