Fort69 60th Birthday Bash 8-oct-2011

A date for your diary  Saturday 8-oct-2011 - a combined 60th birthday party for all of us in the Fort Street Class of '69 at Fort Street Boys HS and Fort Street Girls HS!  We chose this date as a medium for our cohort group at School, 1964-1969.  It will save you having to invite all your school mates to the party you will probably have nearer to your actual 60th birthday. 

An excellent venue has just been selected!  Wayne Kent has a long standing regular booking at The Athenian at 11 Barrack St, Sydney, in the wonderful former Savings Bank of NSW building.  And having been there myself now I can see why!  Wayne, Bruce Boes, Kerry Rowe and I checked out the quality of the food and service yesterday.  The Greek lamb is to die for!  Pure ambrosia!   The staff are very entertaining.  Manly Greek kisses and hugs for all their regular male guests.

We'll start with drinks on the front verandah from 1730, and sit down to a banquet inside about 1930.  Our hosts - Nick, Peter and Manoli Tressos - will provide us with a space dedicated to our needs and the size of our party. 

The night promises to be very memorable. Bring your partner, so there will be someone to take care you get home safely after a great night.  

And please make an effort to drag along some of the Fort'69ers who have not been to any of our previous Reunion Dinners.

John Young

m:  0407 940 943

e:   rsvp_fort2011@yind.net

Update from Don Ross

I guess it is time that I entered this dialogue-although it is a bit of a worry when one of our mates puts out of date pictures on  his web page (note Dave Hay’s home page was last updated 5 June 2006).

My school years at Fort Street were a great time and gave me a basis to launch into life after school. I was happy to be in the middle of the pack and enjoyed all the facets of school life. Fort Street gave us opportunities to try, and for some excel, at a wide range of activities-rugby, water polo, cadets, academic studies, drama etc etc. All the things we tried to find for our kids at the schools they went to, we had back in the late 60’s 

By the way I am married with only one wife, 35 years, two children-Matthew trained as a solicitor and now teaches Latin at Cranbrook and Anna studying in Berlin and Cambridge - Julie and I still live at Epping in Sydney. 

Nick Bogduk’s recollection of teachers was amazing but I would like to add a couple of things. 

• I was lousy at French but Ron Horan must have been an amazing teacher as I still have a good grounding in the language and have not found  it hard to pick up French in later years,  
• Alan Dalgleish was an incredible man taking us for water polo and putting up with our antics 
• Moalem was an exceptional teacher- I can still tackle most mathematical problems and do my kids homework (although I did do several years of maths at University which helped). 
• We had a young teacher John Weir for science-again a lot of the basic science stuck-got to give credit where credit is due

Unfortunately I have missed the reunions as my  work involves a lot of travel (mainly interstate) but I have locked in the 60th birthday party and look forward to catching up and hearing all the war stories.

Don

Musings from General "Digger" Hay 25-nov-2010

It is interesting to note the different perspectives and thoughts after so many years and comparisons with today’s schooling results. As a student, and yes throughout my life, I have had an exceptional brain, tempered only by my complete and utter total laziness, yet I have managed to achieve my life’s aims. I could have done better and applied myself more to get the ticks in the boxes and result cards, but I doubt that I would have had nearly as much fun doing it that way. 

Fort Street had a varied clientele from local lads struggling to read and write English to those who were brought up cocooned from many of life’s realities, such as myself. Some who we least expected to become highly successful have, and some we expected to haven’t. That’s what life is all about, and looking back on it, it’s been a good life, and those who I didn’t socialise with as  a child, I am now happy to associate with as class mates.  

It was the same at RMC Duntroon. Many there I did not particularly like, but we forged a bond over four years, maturing together so that we are all brothers with a special bond that will never be broken. It was also great to renew some of those special friendships at the last re-union I was able to attend. I did find it amazing that many of those vandals who used to march around Singleton in the school cadets, hopping over the tents and getting into every sort of mischief imaginable, had actually grown into responsible adults. I wondered how come they didn’t remain the same as they were, like me? 

Then I discovered that I had actually mellowed and changed over 40 years like them as well and that somehow I had turned my laziness into success, because the lazy man always finds the easiest way to do things. That is especially true in the IT world, where I have finally found my niche.

Esoteric comparisons between James Ruse and Fort Street are a waste of time, because we went to the better school, because of its diversity of students. Our exposure to all of these differences, combined with the highest ratio of university qualified teachers of any school in NSW at that time made us what we are today. A great bunch of blokes.

I have enjoyed reading the emails and the blog, keep up the good work. I am not particularly into blogs as I put most stuff onto my home page, but do enjoy reading all that stuff so keep up the good work.

http://members.pcug.org.au/~dhay/

Regards,

Dave

Dave Hay

InTACT Operations Branch

ICT Manager

Justice and Community Safety (JACS)

É    02 620 53336

È    04 38 68 78 39

More Goggomobil or Messerschmitt...

Gents,

 

The story of the sudden increase of altitudfe of DFC's tri-wheeled limousine, came to me by a very well-konwn-to-me personage, who knew the personages of interest in this matter, DIRECTLY.

 

As for being a Goggo, or a Messerschmidt......not sure?

 

I have taken so little notice of these petrol driven deviancies, I am not the one to ask, although there will be.

 

For comparison to the one pictured in John's missive (is this DFC's car?), see: -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR200

compared to: -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goggomobil

 

...sooooo, it appears to be a Messerschmidt?

 

Cheers,

Pete

Goggomobil or Messerschmitt?

Gentlemen,

 

Slightly more than 5 years earlier than our final year, in fact, my brother's year (in the old 'Leaving Certificate'/5-year era), some miscreants carried Dennis' Goggo up THREE flight of stairs (each double tier, as you know...they must have turned the car on its side to do this, to fit it up the stairwells?), thence along the corridor to the front verandah, and thence into the Music Room (again sideways?), whereupon they placed it ON TOP OF the grand piano!

 

This occurred in 1962/3...?!

 

Dennis was almost as astonished as he was unamused.

 

I have this on very good authority, though I cannot divulge my sources.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Pete Dunn


Editor's Note:  My source claimed to be an eye witness: it was a 3 wheeler 1959 Messerschmitt.  Unless Dennis had both a Goggomobil and a Messerschmitt! 

Dunnisms

I remember hearing about a certain rabbit who used to amuse himself with a square suburban carriage key, wandering along the side of a red rattler train locking the passengers in!   

I wonder if the rabbit did this in his maroon blazer!

Musings from Herbert Garratt

Whoah!?

 

How did 'Dunn' get into this?

 

Most of my memorable exploits occurred either in Palace Street, driving the Marrickville Council 'Fowler' twin-cylinder steam road roller...number plate 'AXD-136', or somewhere on the Main West (wot you guys called 'the #$%^&* railway, somewhere/anywhere between Petersham and Enfield Yards, on pick-up shunting trains)?

 

I did have some amusing moments whilst chez école, but they pale into insignificance compared to the others?

 

Cheers,

Pete Dunn

Dennis Condon

Many of you will be aware that Dennis Condon is very unwell and now living in Lulworth House, operated by St Lukes Care.

Peter Johnson (formerly Kerr) recenly visited him and had this photo taken with Dennis.