Patricians,

The first issue of the Patrician for 2019.

Please consider attending the St Patrick’s Day lunch and AGM at the new venue, ACU, where we will be able to tour the university and meet some staff and undergraduates.

It It is hard to imagine this day could have been any better!

Gathering at the Cathedral started this fantastic day trip down memory lane with concelebration by five of our former classmates, attendance by the Principal and Deputy Principal of St Ignatius Geelong together with their 2019 school captains, and an exceptional homily by Fr Greg Bourke.

On to the Tower for a photo opportunity preceded by Fr Michael Head’s fascinating insights into the school’s history and some special memories recounted by old boys.

 A short walk along Lansdowne Street brought us to the St Patrick’s campus of ACU for an enjoyable lunch in the delightful south café, the venue for a passionate ‘great debate’ on whether SPJC’s best days are behind us. It became clear that the spirit is alive and well more great days await.

 A tour of the Campus led by John Ballard concluded the day – including a well restored Cathedral Hall triggering long held and warm memories, and the SPOCA room nearby already decked out with an initial offering of memorabilia.

 We had 72 attendees at lunch with 88 participating overall.

 A great day indeed! A credit to Kevin Lane as the architect and main organiser, ably assisted by Jim    Smith.

St Patrick’s Jesuit College Scholarship @ACU

This second update on the SPOCA Scholarship initiative includes an overview of the funds raised to date and an outline of activities you can expect to see in 2019.

We were pleased to officially announce at the 50 Year Anniversary Celebration on 24 November 2018 that this Scholarship will be established. We have now raised over $85,000 not only from Patricians but also from two non-Patricians who each kindly donated $5000. Donations of any amount are valuable to our mission and we gratefully acknowledge the 45 Patricians who have contributed to date. One of our objectives has been to encourage at least 111 Patricians to make a donation they can be proud of.

My most vivid memory of St Patrick’s is getting whacked in the backside with a squash racket in the handball courts in a friendly game with “Jack the Man” (alias Father John Drury)!  He reckoned I was standing in the way and wouldn’t  move – probably right!

It was a very pleasant surprise when out of the blue Peter Gaffney contacted me a few years ago and asked me what I had been up to since I left St. Pat’s.  Now he has dobbed me in to put it in writing for the Old Boys’ magazine.  Although officially I am not an ‘Old Boy’, I guess I qualify as an ‘old boy’ as I turned 80 last year.  Old Father Maloney at St. Pat’s used to say that you “do not know what life is all about until you turn 80” – you “are only a teenager till then”– probably right!

Michael Head (S.J.) sent me these two photos he took as a boy on the SPC Excursion to Harrietville and Mt. Feathertop (1963).  The first one is Michael Sutton SJ, a Jesuit Scholastic teaching at St. Pat’s  at the time, and the other one is (a young!) me on the same excursion). 

These other three I sent to Peter Gaffney.

The ‘Vince Symons Stand’ one shows (l. to r.)  Mark (my son – now a Police Detective), Vince (now old!)  and Alex (eldest grandson) Symons in front of the clubhouse/stand at the Tamworth Rugby Club;

The ‘Dinner Suit one’ is myself and wife Debbie with the Captain of the Queen Mary in February this year;

The ‘horse’ one is Debbie and self in our farm stockyard with Debbie’s horse Arnie (a year or so ago)!

Fifty Years since the closure of St. Patrick's College East Melbourne. 24/11/18.
St Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne. 10:00 am Mass.

In Darwin there is a museum that is a tribute to the terrible disaster that
Cyclone Tracy caused to Darwin in 1974. Once I visited the museum and the
guide who was a survivor of that terrible disaster shared the experience of the
cyclone. He told us how the house began to rock, shake then to break up in
sections. He described sheltering his young family in the bathroom. He told us
that his youngest son pleaded that they should pray. He explained that he was
not a religious man and so invited his son to begin. The young boy said the only
prayer he ever heard. He said… Dear God, for what we are about to receive
make us truly thankful!

Arranged by Kevin Lane (SPC 1961-67), nearly 90 SPC Alumni gathered on Saturday 24 Nov 2018 to commemorate the 50 years since SPC Closure. They participated in a Cathedral Mass, procession & photo at the Tower, lunch and talks at ACU St Patrick’s Campus, the launch of the SPJC perpetual scholarship for an ACU student studying Teaching, a debate to decide if SPJC Greatest Days are in fact over and a tour of ACU, Cathedral Hall and its newly donated SPOCA Room. Eight of the 160 photos taken. Soon more photos and
Kevin Lane is putting together a ‘booklet’ of Saturday’s commemoration. The aim is for it to be a good record of the day’s events, from now into the future.

Dear Patricians

Please note there are changes as part of the now ‘streamlined’ afternoon program at ACU

Attached is a reminder notice in respect of the anniversary of the Closure of the College on 24 November.

Please email acknowledgement of your interest. An advice form is attached for lunch booking.

Kind regards