Reunions

60-, 65-, 70-, and 75-Year Reunions (1962, 1657, 1952, 1947)

Founders Day was held on Thursday 18 August, and it was an extra special celebration this year with the 60-, 65-, 70-, and 75-year reunions joining the PLC community for the Founders Day Service. Joining other Old Collegians after the service, the Boarding House Dining Room was transformed and filled with stories, laughter, and familiar faces as luncheon was served.

A fabulous performance from the Petite Choral and the Junior School orchestra welcomed the ladies into the Boarding House.

Welcoming Our Young Old Collegian Community

The OCA recently hosted the 5-Year Reunion Sundowner and the College was thrilled to welcome 40 plus members of the Class of 2017 to this event. It was a wonderful night, with much energy and excitement, as many old school friends caught up. PLC looks forward to hosting the Class of 2018 in 2023.

70-Year Reunion (1952)

On Thursday 27 October, the Class of 1952 met in the University Club Restaurant at UWA to celebrate 70 years since leaving school. They were delighted to have 16 attend, including Jan Hodge (Geddes) who came from Sydney. Over a delicious lunch, there was much reminiscing about the great changes experienced over those 70 years. They all appreciated how fortunate they were to still be able to enjoy each other’s company, and share their individual interests. Thank you to Leonie Broadhurst (Fallon 1962) for organising this reunion.

“We have enjoyed many occassions for Old Collegians of all ages to connect and celebrate together in the second half of 2022 and I would like to share a few highlights”. Mrs Jessamy Mahony (Carroll 1988), OCA President

OCA Awards Honorary Life Members

At the Founders’ Day Service in August, we had the great honour of awarding three new Honorary Life Members of the OCA. This award is given for exceptional service and contribution to the OCA and PLC community. Over the past 102 years, the OCA has awarded just 20 women this honour. The first recipient of the award was Dr Helen Gryzb (Brine 1970). Helen served on the PLC Council for eight years and the OCA Committee for 18 years as President, Vice President, Secretary, and a Committee Member where she was responsible for driving many initiatives and activities to foster the connection amongst Old Collegians and with PLC. Helen was involved in many major strategic decisions which have helped shaped PLC into the school of today. The second recipient of the award is Katrina Burton (Fairweather 1982). Her contribution to the College spans nine years as Council Member and Deputy Chair of Council and eight years as President, Secretary and Committee Member to the OCA and Old Collegians’ community. Katrina further developed many OCA activities like networking and mentoring programmes for the benefit of many students and Old Collegians. For a decade, Katrina served the Argyle Club in many roles including President, Secretary, Committee Member and also in various co-ordinator roles.

The third recipient of the award is Shannon Lovelady (Martin 1983), our Archivist, Curator and Historian. Shannon’s list of contributions to the OCA, PLC, and our community as a Committee Member, in her role, and as general school cheerleader, has been immense. She is the face and voice that has warmly welcomed hundreds of Old Collegians and past families back into the College’s fold over the past 16 years. Shannon’s contribution to meticulously building our Archives, promoting and preserving the history of this amazing College, our Old Collegians, our staff, and our PLC families is just remarkable.

Each year, the OCA Committee, as part of its OCA Inspiring Women’s Programme, endeavours to recognise, honour, and profile an inspiring Old Collegian who has achieved success in their chosen field, career or area of personal pursuit. It was our great pleasure to announce Robyn Sermon (1990) as the 2022 OCA Inspiring Woman Recipient in October. Robyn is a remarkable and inspiring Old Collegian who has enjoyed a 30-year career in the education, agriculture, mining, and health sectors, focussing on regional development, stakeholder engagement, community infrastructure and business leadership. Robyn has worked for a federal government minister, Rio Tinto, UWA and the WA Country Health Service in addition to being on a number of boards including the Royal Flying Doctor Service in both WA and nationally. In March 2022, she joined the Royal Agricultural Society of WA as its first female CEO. As part of the role, Robyn runs the Perth Royal Show, WA’s largest community event with 345,000 attending the 2022 show.

The 57th Combined Independent Girls’ Schools Golf Day was held in October at the Cottesloe Golf Club.

Our PLC Old Collegians fielded a team of 11 pairs and it was a case of déjà vu, with our team again finishing runner-up, by one point to St Hilda’s. Angela Anderson (Rogers 1974) and Anne Stroud (Seymour 1983) had the best score of the day with 31 points and Leonie Cooke (1971) and July Healy (Anderson 1971) came in with the second-best PLC score of 29 points. The top two scores for each team determine the results. PLC did have a slight home ground advantage with our two best pairs all being members of Cottesloe Golf Club. The event will be hosted by Perth College next year at Royal Perth Golf Club in early November. Any Old Collegians interested in being included on the mailing list for this and future golf events should contact Jane Metcalf (Linfoot 1988) at jane_met@bigpond.net.au

57th Combined Independent Girls’ Schools Golf Day