Reunions

CLASS OF 1946 AND 1951 – 75TH AND 70TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION

What a wonderful celebration! Not many people are able to catch up with those they went to school with 70 (or more) years ago, but the remarkable men from the Classes of 1946 and 1951 have done just that – and they’ve been doing it for a while.

On Tuesday 9 November 2021, these Old Boys, who attended CBC Terrace, met up at the Firewater Grille at the Duxton Hotel (which stands on the land where there old school once stood). It was heart-warming to feel the love that remains within these Old Boys for their old school. As lunch began, a glass was raised to honour friends who couldn’t join the celebration and to their pals who are no longer with us. Conversation flowed, and the afternoon continued with many laughs, jokes and stories, sharing memories of the CBC grounds and of the good times they had throughout their schooling years. The men who attended were John Lambe from the Class of 1946 and Daniel Carney, Clarence Carpene, Redmond Hickey, Neville Hills, Frank O’Connell, Frank Pownall, Brian Preston and John Turner – all from the Class of 1951.

Redmond Hickey (‘51), Neville Hills (‘51), Daniel Carney (‘51), John Lambe (‘46), Brian Preston (‘51), Clarence Carpene (‘51), Frank Pownall (‘51), Frank O’Connell (‘51) and John Turner (‘51)

CBC Old Boys and their partners caught up for the CBC Spring Lunch at the Kailis Restaurant in Leederville.

John O’Connell (‘49) welcomed the guests and thanked everyone for coming. He then read out the Old Boys who sent their apologies. The mood was a little sober as John acknowledged life’s vulnerabilities and how things can change overnight, but soon turned to happy conversation with fond memories of their time together at CBC and Trinity. As the lunch progressed, people stood to share their memories starting with Kevin Hogan (‘50) who gave a heart-warming speech and read out a quiz from the CBC 50th Anniversary Reunion handbook from 2000. Daniel Carney (‘51) took great delight in recalling when he came to the Golden Heritage Club, ‘Back to the Classroom’ event where he was interviewed by Year 6 students. They asked how life was different back when he was a school and he chuckled when he was remembering the looks on the students’ faces when he told them that they would catch public transport to and from school with their .303 rifles. John Hansen (‘58) acknowledged the important work of TOBA and the donations to the different areas of the College such as the Music Department and rowing. He encouraged everyone to get involved with TOBA whether it be through the Golden Heritage Club or cheering on the Old Boys at the Summer and Winter Sports Days. We thank the partners who attended: Vicki Bowden, Beryl Carpene, Lyn Gibbons, Jo Hansen, Ronnie Hogan, Colleen Mitchell and Pam O’Connell. Once again, we thank Michael Kailis (‘50) and the very attentive Kailis staff for looking after us and always making us so feel welcome. Thank you to Kevin Hogan (‘50), John O’Connell (‘49) and the CBC Committee for organising the event.

Back: John Turner (‘51), Frank Pownall (‘51), Frank O’Connell (‘51), George Bebich (‘50), Vicki Bowden. Front: Clarence Carpene (‘51), Beryl Carpene

Photos below: 1. Brian Bradley (‘53), Colleen Mitchell, John Gibbons (‘49), Vin Mitchell (‘51) 2. George Bebich (‘50), Frank Pownall (‘51) 3. John Hansen (‘58), Jo Hansen 4. Kevin Hogan (‘50), John Miocevich (‘51) 5. Pam O’Connell, John O’Connell (‘49) 6. Ronnie Hogan, Kevin Hogan (‘50)

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After 50 years of leaving Trinity, 31 former classmates reunited at the College on 2 October. Special guest was former teacher, Brother Michael Coughlin, who flew in from South Australia to attend.

He reminisced that our class in Year 6 was his second as a teacher and he revelled in getting to know all about us and our families. A tour of the College was led by Chris Ellison followed by some fine food and drinks in the Staff Room. As with most reunions, there were many funny stories shared as well as a toast to absent friends, which included a heartwarming remembrance to the 16 classmates who have passed away. We hope to have an annual get together for lunch in the future. Many thanks to the organising committee of Pat Steens, Peter Northover, Chris Ellison, Jim Benson and Gary Hilton as well as TOBA’s Di Millar and Todd Benson (‘03) for the great photos.

Seated: Mick Andrews, Angelo Fiora, Br Coughlin, Greg Wheeler. Standing: Jack Trainor, Jim Benson and Ted Hawtin Pat Steens, Peter Northover, Chris Ellison, Jim Benson and Gary Hilton

Men from the Class of 1988 decided to combine a reunion with a joint celebration of them all turning 50 in 2021. So, on Saturday 23 October at The Camfield, there was lots of laughs and sharing of stories and memories from their days as young lads at Trinity. It was a wonderful evening and they all look forward to their next get together – hopefully soon. Thank you to Stewart Kestel for coordinating the event, and Tim McLernon (‘90) for the fantastic venue at The Camfield.

Below right: Anthony Boyatzis, Robbie Rowland, Stewart Kestel, Peter Munns, Stephen Woods Below: Peter Munns Rohan vanden Driesen, Robbie Rowland, Anthony Boyatzis, Peter Hawke, Nathan Parker, Chris Jonker

Cameron Williams, Anthony Lovegrove, Chris Jonker, Peter Hawke, Rohan vanden Driesen, Anthony Boyatzis, Robbie Rowland, Adam Western, Troy Vanderweide, Stewart Kestel, Nathan Parker, Peter Munns, Stephen Woods

1. Shane Vale, Mark Houwen, Shane Bogunovich and Glen Bartlett 2. Michael Roberts and David Howard 3. Paul Higgins (‘82), Hamish Valentine and Robert Armitage 4. Paul Moynihan, Mark Houwen, Shane Bogunovich, Robert Armitage, David Pigram, Brad Grant 5. Phil Whitely and Glen Bartlett 6. David Howard, Michael Roberts, John Beeson and David Shaw 7. Michael Bradshaw, Jeff Thorne and Kim Yukich 8. John Beeson and John Riley 9. Kevin Dobra and Brad Grant 10. Mark Harris and Danny O’Donoghue 11. Geoff Hogg, Mark Sheridan and Ray Theseira 12. Mark Sheridan, Mark Houwen and Mark Miolin 13. Paul Canny 14. Geoff Hogg, David Pigram, Mark Harris and Mark Sheridan 15. Luke Gregory, Paul Houmann and Paul Browne

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6 November 2021 Forty years after walking out the old school gates for the last time, 34 members of the Trinity Class of 1981 gathered once again, this time at The Shoe Bar and Café in Yagan Square, firstly to try and recognise each other and once that was done, to renew old friendships.

Of course, there were some familiar faces, but there were also a few that we hadn’t seen in some time that made a massive effort to be in town for the event. Ray Theseira flew in from Adelaide, Glen Bartlett, who has been based in Melbourne for many years, David Pigram flew in from Broome and Shane Vale from Albany. There were also guys that drove hours from many other parts of WA to join this 40th anniversary reunion. It was also brilliant to see David Howard, who had not been spotted at a reunion for many a long year, and then there were three other special attendees,

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with David Shaw (complete with an original Year 4 cap and Year 5 fishing trip photo from a 1974 West Australian newspaper), Russell Collett and Paul Houmann who, incredibly, were attending a reunion for the very first time since leaving Trinity.

Sadly, there were those who were prevented from travelling to Perth from New Zealand, Victoria, Canberra, New South Wales and Queensland due to COVID-19 restrictions. They included Paul Morrissey, Danny Crofts, Mal McKimmie, Brett Keynes, Louis Dudley, Robert Francis and Tony Rowe, to name but a few. Their absence put a dent in our numbers but certainly not in our spirits. It didn’t take long for the ‘boys’ to get into the spirit of the event and in no time at all the function room at The Shoe was buzzing with conversations built around “bloody hell – great to see you”, “what are you doing with yourself now” and “how good we were back in 1981 – bigger, stronger, faster and smarter than anyone at Trinity before us or since”. There was our now traditional PowerPoint presentation, where we reeled in the years to reminisce about our school days, going right back to Year 4 in 1973 through to our last big gathering at the 30th Reunion. Regular interruptions were par for the course as more memories were added to those on screen, with some particularly colourful embellishments from Robert Armitage, who had everybody crying with laughter. We toasted absent friends, both those who couldn’t make it on the day and those who have sadly slipped off this mortal coil for a better place. Therein followed an insightful and probing interview of Glen Bartlett by Brad Grant, who was surprisingly skilled at the interview caper, luring Glen into a false sense of comfort and security with questions about his football career, setting him up perfectly for a series of questions about his lack of deepwater fishing skills, which Brad had experienced

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first-hand some years ago. It was a pure work of magic by Mr Grant. Following more animated conversation, accompanied by fine food and cold beverages, we headed to an outside balcony to carry on the festivities (complete with our new Old Boy stubby holders courtesy of TOBA), but not before a rousing rendition of Rickety Rick admirably led this year by Mark Houwen in the absence of our good mate Patrick Coward. As is tradition, the reunion carried on well into the evening, with all manner of amazing events threatened to be organised, wild promises being made of keeping in touch more often and the general nonsense and hilarity continuing as it had done from the start of the afternoon. As is the way with these events, some boys drifted off into the night with just a quiet nod, others stayed to the glorious end, milking every last quality minute with old mates before hitting the streets, looking for somewhere to continue proceedings, until ultimately, they too drifted off quietly into the night. Perhaps time really is starting to catch up with us after all – not that anyone would ever openly admit it. In the end it really was another great reunion, where the years melted away, but without the old school yard prejudices from those glory days. There is no doubt that we have all improved with age, which I think is best reflected in a quote from our presentation:

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“We have fathered children and welcomed grandchildren, we are married, divorced, gay, single. We have been volunteers, travelled the world, served humanity, created in business, science, education, sport and the arts. We have become part of life’s rich tapestry. What hasn’t changed is that a group of boys from across the state spent their crucial formative years at Trinity, forging lifelong friendships and creating a bond that continues to bring us back together.” We sincerely hope it is not another ten years before we meet again, but if it is, it will be at the 50th Reunion – and we thought 40 was a scary number. We are now heading to golden oldie territory. Unbelievable! Many thanks to Di Millar and TOBA for their support in helping to organise the afternoon and to Paul Higgins (‘82) and wife Jo for their amazing hospitality at The Shoe, where nothing was ever a problem. Most importantly a big thanks to the members of what we laughingly referred to as the ‘Class of 81 Reunion Committee’ – Robert Armitage, Brad Grant, Mark Houwen, Tim McDonald, Mark Miolin, Mark Sheridan and Hamish Valentine – a finer and funnier group of gentlemen you will never meet. Well done, boys. Geoff Hogg (‘81)

The Class of 2001 celebrated their 20-year reunion at The Shoe Bar in Yagan Square on 3 September. It was a fantastic turnout and a great night, with around 40 people attending the event. As is the norm, there was lots of reminiscing about old school days and catching up on the last 20 years. There were many laughs – and it’s very likely everyone felt their age in the morning. Even though hairlines and belt notches have shifted since school, what hasn’t changed are our fond memories of the College and of course our TC Spirit! Many thanks to co-organisers: George Rebeiro, Josh Catalano and Chris Lowry.

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1. Nick Celenza, Carlo Zampatti, Mark Versaci, Adam Versaci 2. Justin Wilson, Dave Parsons, Dario Neri 3. Ashley Sampi and Chris Lowry 4. Paul D’Alessandro, Matt McKeone, Eddie Parra 5. Tim Ford, Nick Robertson, Karl Ilich, Josh Catalano

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Keep in Touch

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