The Marist tradition has as its core goal to make available to all pupils a vibrant educational framework from which their human and spiritual development can be assured, from which they will find meaning and direction in their lives.

Fr John Hannan SM, Superior General of the Society of Mary

Genuine education emphasises the partnership between the home, the professional staffs within the schools, the supporting educational bodies aligned to them – all focused in preparing young people to achieve their full potential within a safe environment.

More recent partners in the education arena are the boards of Trustees and Governors in our schools: people who work tirelessly to realise Catholic goals in education. Their important alliance with school principals, parents, teachers and pupils make of the educational endeavour a model for human co-operation and partnership within modern Society.

There is an African proverb which states that “it takes a whole village to raise a child”. The Maori equivalent is that “with your basket and mine the people will be satisfied”.

I salute all of you, resource providers and collaborators, whatever your role is in the life of St Patrick’s College.

The Marist Fathers, despite diminishment, remain unequivocally committed to Catholic education. Signs of this commitment are to be seen in our continued involvement in the work of education, albeit in a different way, in our various educational institutes in New Zealand.

To the current generation of principals, boards and teachers the Marist baton has been passed to you.

The Marist Fathers will continue to work with you so that the pupils who cross your doors may acquire the human, spiritual and intellectual formation, the confidence and the faith, to be truly fulfilled people in their adult lives.

And so we pray: Lord God, I thank you for your guiding hand in our lives. I thank you for the generations who have preceded us and I ask you to bestow your blessing and healing on all here present.  Let this food  be blest. Let our faith in Christ and the values that flow from His teachings be our inspiration and ongoing source of wisdom. Amen

One day one of my class went up to him about 20 minutes into the period and said optimistically, “Father, we’ve finished”, to which Norm replied, “”Don’t be silly, son – you can’t finish:  it’s an endless relay.”

Brian Cummings

And that, perhaps, is one way of  expressing a saying we’re all familiar with:  that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Certainly, in the past 125 years, St Patrick’s College has changed.  Most fundamentally, it’s not on the same site as it was when my uncle attended in the 1920s and my two brothers and I in the 1950s and 60s – and that’s true for many of us here today.  Even for those who have known only the Kilbirnie site, the college has changed since it arrived here in 1979.

Quite apart from physical relocation, the school has changed in so many ways over 125 years.

But there are things that have stayed the same.

When the college took in its first pupils, the date was 1 June 1885. The first major Mass celebrated after that date was the same as we celebrate today:  the feast of Corpus Christi or, as we know it today, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Some may see the closeness of events in 1885 and 2010 as pure coincidence, and they may be right.  But I prefer to see it as a sign that this college was blessed at its beginnings and it is still blessed today.

The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ is one of the major feast days in the Church’s year.  It highlights the significance of the Eucharist to our lives as Christians and it speaks to us of two aspects of the Eucharist that are central to St Patrick’s College:  that it is life-giving and that it is a cause for gratitude.

St Paul highlights these for us in today’s second reading when he says:  “This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you”.  What he received as gift he passed on to others in turn that they might also believe..

And in that spirit we need to reflect on what we have received as Patricians and on what we have passed on to those who follow after us.

Each of us will have our own stories of what our association with St Pat’s means to us.  Not every aspect will have been life-giving; not every experience will have been a cause for gratitude.  The College was, and is, a human institution and so it was never a utopia nor a fantasy land where all was perfect.

The story of St Pat’s has always been one of struggling to make ends meet; of limited resources.  It is not difficult to resonate with the disciples in today’s Gospel reading when they looked out at 5,000 waiting to be fed and realised that they only had five loaves and two fish:  it’s a situation that every one of the Bursars or Finance Managers in the College’s history, would have recognised.  And how it got resolved in their day was perhaps almost as big a miracle as the one worked by Jesus in feeding the crowd.

But for all the limitations and struggles, there was much we received at this college and there is much to be passed on.

And some of those things are outlined for us in the College crest which we have all worn.

In the top left quadrant is the figure of St Patrick and the green of Ireland.  We received from St Mary’s, Dundalk the first Marists who staffed this school.  In St Patrick we were given a role model – not of an ideal man but someone we could relate to:  a man who had a sense of humour and enjoyed life; a man fierce about fighting against injustice; a man who had a deep belief that God was someone real in his life.

In the top right quadrant are the three books symbolising wisdom, knowledge and piety.  The three go together – knowledge is of limited value unless it leads to wisdom; wisdom is limited unless it is based on piety or an understanding of what we have received from God.

In the bottom right hand quadrant is the cross of Archbishop Redwood – the founder of the College.  It reminds us that St Pat’s is not a world in itself:  it is a key part of the local Church and because of that, also a key part of the fabric of this city and country.

And in the lower left quadrant is the crest of the Society of Mary.  The Marists have always been a part of the story of St Pat’s – the college has always been a part of the story of Marist education throughout the world.  From the early Marists who formed the staff, through to the Marists of today, the story has always been the same: “This is what we have received and this is what we pass on to you.”

The crest shows one figure and three symbols – but the reality, I’d suggest, is three figures:  Mary, Patrick and Redwood.  There is the Mother of God – the woman who has always been at the heart of this all-boys school; the woman who stood with her Son and with his followers, the one who stands with us in our world today.  There is Patrick, the saint from the other side of the world, who reminds us that we each have our own stories of how our families came to be New Zealanders and that we received our faith, along with many other things, as part of a long journey.  And there is Redwood – the local Bishop who reminds us that we, as Patricians, are called to serve the local Church in whatever way we can, to the best of our abilities.

Binding all of this together is the College motto:  Sectare Fidem – hold firm to the faith.  It is a call to action, not simply a useful suggestion.  Holding firm to the faith isn’t easy – keeping our eyes fixed on a bigger vision rather than only the realities and complexities of everyday life is challenging and at times almost overwhelming.  But that is why, as Patricians, we have the role models of Mary, of Patrick and of Redwood:  all three were faced with enormous challenges to their beliefs, all three held firm to their faith.

So, as we celebrate this Mass of the Body and Blood of Christ together, we are conscious that the Eucharist gives us life and it calls us to gratitude.  This is what the first Patricians in June of 1885 celebrated on this feast.  This is what we in our turn have received as Patricians – this is what we pass on to those who follow us in the next 125 years.

Craig Larkin

Our memories of the School are personal, and they are limited to the time we spent at the school. But I propose that there are some experiences we all share, no matter when we attended this College, and I name four of them: The Marists, the Staff, a family atmosphere, and finally, two words.

The Marists. When I arrived at St Pat’s in 1956, we knew who the Marists were. They were virtually the only teachers there. They all wore black robes, and they walked around as if they owned the place – which of course they did. There were 21 of them in the College at that time, and they were there on site 24/7. They told us clearly what St Pat’s was all about. Within a couple of weeks we innocent little third formers were caught up in preparations for the McEvedy Shield, and there we had our first extra-curricular lesson: namely, that St Pat’s, despite being Catholic, and small, and under-resourced, was as good as any of the big Colleges in Wellington and the Hutt Valley.  We also learned why it was so important to beat Silverstream.  We heard the legends about how in 1931 everything – even the yard-broom – was taken from Old St Pat’s to Silverstream, leaving St Pat’s town to start again, virtually from scratch. That very fact left its mark on the College, and gave us pupils a certain gutsiness, the capacity to make do with limited resources, to battle against odds. The phoenix rose from the ashes in 1931 – and the spirit of the school remained. The phoenix rose from the ashes again in 1979 when the Old College was closed again and re-opened in Evans Bay. And the spirit of the school has remained.

I was happy at St Pat’s, and I think I fulfilled much of my young potential. I didn’t achieve academic distinction; I didn’t receive sporting honours. I came to school each day for education – sure – but also for companionship and laughter. And I got both of those things regularly. There was a homely and friendly atmosphere in the school.

The Marists were serious about their tasks, but I always had the impression that they didn’t take themselves too seriously. They laughed with us; we laughed with them, and quite often we laughed at them. They all had nicknames that we had given them: there was Uncle Will, Bottles, Noddy, Pinhead, Dodo, Nude-Nob and Tubby; there was Jack, Zac, Jock, Norm, Pluto, Redjob, Dumb Doug, and Taxi: and before and after me there was Stiffy, Slinker, Pid, Chalky, Krak, Scratch and Gangster. Others enjoyed the more affectionate names like Barney, Johnny, or Millsey. Some had legends attached to them – like Doug Forsyth who had a cauliflower ear and was reputed to have been an Empire Games Boxer who killed a man in the ring and became a priest in reparation; or Charlie Devonport who was said to be a National Hang Gliding Champion. Pat Minto was reputed to be psychic and knew what every boy was up to at any given time of day – including after school and on week-ends.

I had two brothers at the College when I was there, and we had plenty of scope for exchanging stories about the Marists when we got home from school. I’ve got heaps of stories. Here’s just one. In 1958 our New Zealand poet James K Baxter became a Catholic. This was a big day for the minority Catholic Church. From being someone whom people wanted to disown because of his alcoholism and his life-style, he became something of a voice for the Catholic Church. His entry into the Catholic Church was a significant event, and many lots of people wanted to get in on the act. And despite the Marists’ commitment to humility, there were even some of them who wanted a bit of shared glory. I remember the day James K Baxter was received into the Church. I was in the 5^th form, and my brother Andrew was in the 6^th form. And we shared teachers.

I was taught English by Frank McKay, a.k.a. Taxi. Frank was a very good teacher; he also wrote poetry, he had lots of mannerisms, and was very imitable.  On this day he came into class, and before the opening prayer, he said, “Ah boys, I want you to pray in a special way today for James K Baxter, New Zealand’s leading poet, who’s being received into the Church today. Ah, Jim’s a good friend of mine. We poets understand each other. I think I had a lot to do with his conversion.”

Meanwhile, my brother in the sixth form was being taught by Frank Durning, a.k.a. Fred. Frank was an M.A. in history, he was considered to be one of the “academic” Marists, and knew a lot about theology. He began the class by saying. “Boys, today is a significant day. James K. Baxter is being received into the Church. I talked with Baxter about Church history and theology. I think it influenced his becoming a Catholic.”

Back in the fifth form, Johnny Goulter was beginning a class in Book-Keeping. Johnny was a fanatic in sport, and usually entered the room imitating a shot-putter or a discuss thrower or a hurdler. He began the class, “Boys, today is a significant day. James K Baxter is becoming a Catholic. I used to see a lot of him at the A.A. meetings.”

In fact, as we learned later, it was none of these three, but a priest at St Mary of the Angels called George McHardy who received Baxter into the Church. George was no sportsman and no theologian, and he had never heard of James K Baxter. When he opened the door to a dishevelled, bearded, bohemian-looking man who said his name was Jim and wanted to be a Catholic, he shoved a catechism in his hand, and told him to come back when he had learned it. Baxter later wrote that he was grateful to George McHardy for his help.

The Marists. They were there at the beginning in 1885, and they are here 2010 in the persons of Fr Paul Martin and Br. Matt. And between those dates 207 Marists have taught at the school. They were all good men; some of them were great men; some, sadly, did bad things to some of us; and some we thought were just a little mad. But whoever they were, they all had one thing in common. They loved us. They were totally committed to us. They lived in pokey rooms and in rather primitive conditions in the old College. They taught us, they played and coached sport with us, they trained us in music and drama and public speaking; and when the day was over they went to university to get a degree part-time. None of them were qualified teachers, but some of them became great educators.

In the year I arrived at St Pat’s, three lay teachers arrived. There were “lay teachers” at St Pat’s from 1888, so they were nothing new. But they were a small minority; and the very name said something: they were NOT the Marists. They had to struggle to obtain credibility from us who thought that the real teachers were the Marists. Two of those lay teachers soon left. But one survived, and I want to name him as a sort of prototype of the second common element that I call “the staff”.  Arthur Naylor. He arrived in 1956, and left the school 41 years later, a most honourable and respected man.

I’m sorry that Arthur isn’t here today. I need to go to him for Confession for the things we did to this man.  In our fourth form class there was a certain Greg Dellabarca.  I hope Greg forgives me for telling this story. But to be honest, Greg was a mischief. And he was a fourth former. Imagine this. A classroom full of fourth form boys; the class is Social Studies, the least important topic on the programme; it’s last class of the day; it’s Friday, the last day of the week; and it’s a hot summer day. That’s what “Archie” Naylor had to face.  Now, Greg had decided to lighten things up. On his way home from school the previous day he dropped by at pigeon park in Dixon Street and fed the pigeons with bread soaked in alcohol. He took two of them home, and brought them to school next day. They were in a shoe box under his desk, and they were there all day. You can imagine the smell: fourth-form feet, and cooped-up pigeons.  Anyway, half-way through the class, Greg lifts the lid of the box. … I can still see Arthur in the middle of the pandemonium that ensued, standing, with his eyes closed, a pencil in his hand, saying “I suspect something here…”

I like to see Arthur as a sort of symbol of that large group of committed staff members who have taught in this school. My calculations tell me there have been 573 of them, and I include here the Assumptionist Fathers who taught here while preparing to establish Viard College. The one very significant thing about this group of people is that so many of them picked up the “ethos” of the College, that special characteristic which makes the school unique and Christian and Catholic and Marist.  And despite its size the College continues to be like a family, uniting such a variety of personalities and cultures. Look at the names of the present pupils. There are 23 different general national groupings represented in the school today, and many more nationalities.

And that’s the third thing in our common experience: its family spirit. Being the only Catholic school in the Capital city, the College has been a great leveler of any social distinctions. Whether you were from the Eastern suburbs or the Western suburbs; rich or poor, sons of a prime minister, or sons of a book-maker, you were all were all piled in together in that family atmosphere. If you want to see evidence or catch a whiff of that family spirit, you’ll find it in the magnificent book published for the Jubilee. This is not just a book of the history of St Pat’s; it’s a celebration of life; a kaleidoscope of the colour and vibrancy that makes St Pat’s still a great and multi-cultural family.

And there, in that family spirit, and that bond of common values, is where we find a link with – yes – our brothers at Silverstream. When we talked with each other either as pupils or as Old Boys, we heard a similar language, a set of values that was familiar to those who came from St Patrick’s College. Some things we shared, despite our rivalry.

In particular, two words are instantly recognized by any old boy of St Pat’s. Sectare Fidem. The school motto. You could go almost anywhere in the world, and if you shouted these two words loud enough, someone would be bound to reply, “I know those words”. In NZ you could go to any banking establishment, to any army barracks, any medical convention, any gathering of accountants, teachers, architects, road builders, company managers, and you’ll find people for whom those words mean something. You can go into any pub and on one side or other of the bar you’ll find them – some standing up, some swaying and slurred of speech, some out to it. You could go into a court of law and shout “Sectare Fidem” and from any side you’ll find someone who answers: either the judge, or the lawyers – on either side – or the witnesses, or the plaintiff, or the accused.

To get back to that orator at the O’Shea Shield competition.  As far as I recall his closing words were: “And when the College says to me, in the words of her motto, ‘Sectare Fidem – Pursue the faith!’ I know that with the help of God, I will pursue it – to the end.”  Well, with words like that, it’s no wonder he didn’t get the judge’s vote! But seriously, what I’ve come to realise after all these years, is that I got it wrong. It’s not I that has pursed the faith, it’s the faith that has pursued me – and all of us. And faith isn’t what we thought it was. It’s not about Church; and it’s not about rules or codes of behaviour. It’s something much bigger and better and brighter than all of that. It’s to do with the core values that drive our lives. It’s in the bones of us all. Yes, we’ve all gone different ways; we’ve all made different life-choices; we all have different views of some of the things we may have learned. But we are all here; and I for one am very happy to return to the College to say that I’m grateful for four things I’ve received: a good education, a good set of values, a good bunch of friends, and a bag of good memories.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s drink to the College.

St Pats certainly pervades my family. My uncles, Andrew, Peter and Paul Wierzbicki, attended the college in the 60s and 70s. My father in law, Mike Whitaker, attended the college in the 50s. At my wedding, Mike’s brother Frank was the priest, my best man Jason Carrington was an Old Boy, and I got to know my wife Clare when we shared the O’Shea Shield with St Mary’s. My sister Katie is also here this evening as partner of Chris Slade, a fellow old boy.

I attended the college from 1992-96, when the pace of change at the College was as great as it has ever been. I was in the first year group to never have a priest as rector, although I was privileged enough to have Father Peter Kiley as my 3rd form French teacher. He called the roll before every class and expected us to answer “Ici, Mon Pere” – literally “here my father”. I’m not quite sure what he made of the classical Samoan French pronunciation of many of my classmates, which was more like ‘isi mon pe’a’.

I was personally very privileged to see the college from many different perspectives – spiritual, academic, sporting, and cultural. In fact, my St Pats experience was summed up well by the College mission statement.

Education at Saint Patrick’s is based on Marist tradition and philosophy in which each student is treated as a unique individual who is enabled to grow spiritually, academically, culturally, emotionally, physically and socially in a nurturing Catholic environment.

Let me repeat: treated as a unique individual who is enabled to grow in a nurturing Catholic environment. This is a far cry from the stereotype of a strict Catholic education, complete with rapping of knuckles and hours spent on one’s knees, or from the ‘factory-like’ reputation that many of this country’s state boys’ schools bear.

Academically, this approach worked well for many of us – certainly the driven, bordering on obsessive types, like me. Guys like Lance Reynolds who did a 300 page statistics assignment in our final year – incidentally I don’t think Lance had a girlfriend until he left school.

It is sometimes a challenge though to treat each student as an individual and keep high standards for all. I do sometimes reflect on some of my friends who didn’t achieve their academic potential and wonder if a more factory-like approach would have served them better. I always come to the conclusion that nothing could compare to the leadership experience and personal growth that the college offered. I was a bit disappointed by my own final year academic results but the strength that I had gained through my St Pat’s experience ultimately led to tertiary results that I’m proud of. Having said that, I’m heartened that the College has continued to find new and better ways to drive students to achieve.

The spiritual aspect of College life was clearly ever-present. I hesitate to even mention the spiritual as a distinct perspective because it was inseparable from all others – it was simply part of everything we did and indeed everything we were. An incident from our Year 13 retreat illustrates this well. For some reason, Richard Kelly decided to hide from Peter ‘The Rock’ Wadsworth, and did so in Reece Poutawera, Sam Dempsey, and Sharney Wiringi’s wardrobe. Once inside, he discovered that the wardrobe could only be opened from the outside. The boys all showed compassion, freshening the space by spraying two cans of deodorant and stuffing orange peel under the door. Eventually we had to let Richard out. So what occupied Richard’s thoughts in his time alone? In his words, “I used the time to talk to God”.

Incidentally, Richard was also one of managers of the 1st XV that year. We had a couple of good years in 95-96. The teams featured future All Black Jerry Collins, future Manu Samoa players Kas Lealamanua and Malaga Leota and other guys who made NZ rep teams including Nic Fitisemanu, Reece Poutawera, Daniel Scanlan and Gerrard Fasavalu. We won a Grand Slam of our traditionals in 96, the third and last time that feat was achieved. 95 was the first year that the 1st XV attended the Western Heights pre-season tournament in Rotorua. I think some of our Northern opponents were a bit freaked by the sight of an entire team with shaven heads – the result of a first night bonding exercise. They were also confused by our other weird behaviours like rucking, wanting to play 40 rather than 30 minute halves, and talking to the visiting netball teams. At the end of the tournament, we celebrated by throwing our managers, Pete ‘The Rock’ Wadsworth and Michael ‘Drugs’ Anastasiadis, into the showers in their tracksuits. The Rock thought it was hilarious but Drugs looked unusually uncomfortable. It was only after he stripped off his tracksuit that we realized he had his full formal uniform, complete with blazer, underneath.

Of course, sport required a lot of training but some of my best training in character came at Multicultural Club. I remember joining the club and hearing stories of the hard man who’d led the group in 1990: Mike Savali. I only actually met Mike a couple of years ago and it turns out he’s a bit of a teddy bear. There was so much leadership and artistic talent in the group – from the guys who I looked up to when I first arrived like Joe Alaimoana and Lafaele Savali through to younger talents like Telu Vae’au and Fa’atonu Fili. In preparation for the annual Polyfest we’d have sleepovers in the hall or the gym – where we’d try and grab a gymnastics mat to avoid sleeping on the wooden floors. They were hard work, but lots of fun. We’d stay up until 4 in the morning and beyond, doing many of the things that islanders love best: sing and dance, play rugby and break it up with a late night feed of KFC.

The Polynesian presence in the school was very important for me personally–as a half-Samoan half-European it helped me to establish my own identity. But I’m also very proud of the role that the College played in integrating new immigrants from the Middle East into our society. There’s one guy, Bachir Assif, who I think about often. As a 6th former, I led Bachir’s group on 4th form camp. He was shy and could barely speak English but could speak just enough to tell me about some of the horrors of war that he’d witnessed in his native Lebanon. These days Bachir is a business owner, running Basho hair stylist in Hataitai. I don’t know much about hair styling, but I hear he’s pretty good…and I certainly admire his achievements.

I hope you can all tell that I’m very grateful for my St Pats experience and immensely proud to be part of this community. In my mind, all Old Boys and friends of St Patrick’s College Wellington can be proud of its tradition of achievement and genuine humanity. Many of the people who built this tradition are no longer with us. I personally think of special teachers like Rob Taylor and Brian O’Halloran and Fr Barney Doherty. I also think of the many old boys who have left us, who built our famed school spirit as students and spread our values to broader society as adults. I’ve been given the privilege of offering a toast in honour of these two groups. So I’d ask you all to stand and charge your classes: To Deceased Old Boys and Staff and their Legacy

Before I sit down, I want to briefly mention St Patrick’s College Foundation.

The Foundation was launched late last year and is charged with reconnecting the wider College family back to today’s College and raising funds for capital works and an education endowment. Many of you will have read about the Foundation and the first capital project it is supporting: the rejuvenation of the quad and the theatre.

We see this weekend as an early boost to the Foundation’s goals: reconnecting and raising funds.

I managed to read a few pages of the Jubilee book this morning and was inspired by the efforts of Catholic families all around New Zealand in the 1880s to raise 20,000 pounds for the building of this great college. It’s very much in that spirit that we ask you to support the Foundation. There are more details about the work of the Foundation and how you can support it in your registration packs. We’ve also got a display in the College foyer if you’d like to come and have a look after Mass tomorrow.

Thank you and have a fantastic evening.

By Gerard Dobson (T1964-68)

Back in the day (we’re talking about the sixties) life was pretty straightforward. Just about everybody loved the Beatles or the Rolling Stones or sometimes both. At St Pats Town everybody knew what the rules were: Socks stayed up (not around the ankles) hair stayed well away from the collar. Everybody played rugby unless you were Italian, Polish or some other exotic nationality. Those that did harriers or study were either lower life forms or brain boxes. On regular occasions we put on our “sandpaper suits” and marched off to Prince of Wales Park to play toy soldiers.  St Pats Silverstream was a bigger rival, even more than Wellington College and we all performed a non sensical haka with made up words at all sporting functions.

One of the unwritten rules was!
“St Pats hates motorcyclists”

Motorcycles were frowned upon and kept out of sight. Friends of mine and other “temporary New Zealanders” parked them well down the road and couldn’t be seen riding them in uniform.

Well not anymore!

Those days are long gone, we’ve all grown up (I hope) and we can ride our Norton’s, Triumphs, Harleys, Ducati’s, Vespers, Honda’s or whatever to St Pats.

For the 125^th anniversary we will be holding a motorcycle run.

So now’s the time to be a (belated) rebel, ride your motorcycle, wear your leather jacket and shades, be the crazy, cool dude you always wanted to be.

But seriously we’d like all you motorcyclists out there to join us

• St Pats Town, Kilbirnie, Car Park
• Queens Birthday Weekend
• Saturday, 5^th June 2010 at 10.30am

Gerard Dobson and Brendon Keogh invite you to join them

All Day

• 10.00 – 4pm The College will be open for people to walk around and visit ‘decade’ displays
• Parking is available at the Evans Bay Marina.
• Food and drinks will be available to purchase from 10am – 3pm in the Hall
• Memorabilia will be available to purchase from the Registration Room, (Music Room – Rectors Row, Chanel Block)

Sport’s Fixtures

9.00 am

• Under 15A Football v Silverstream(tbc) – Kilbirnie Park

10.00 am

• Under 55 Div 1  SPC  1 v Silverstream 1  – Evans Bay
• Under 55 Div 3  SPC 2 v Silverstream 2   – Kilbirnie Park 2
• Under 15 Div 3  SPC 2 v Wellington College 2  – Kilbirnie 3
• 1st XI Hockey v Old Boys’ Team   – National Hockey Stadium

10.30 am Decade Photos in the Assembly Hall

All are asked to be present at 10.30 am

Special group photos and generation photos by request.

Sport’s Fixtures Cont’d

11.00 am

• 1st XI Football (tbc) - Kilbirnie Park

11.30 am

• Under 80  SPC 2 v Wellington College  – Kilbirnie Park 3
• Under 65 Div 3 SPC 2 v Silverstream 3 – Kilbirnie Park 2
• Under 15 Div 1  SPC 1 v Silverstream 1  – Evans Bay Park

12.00 noon

• Basketball  1978 team v Rongotai 1978 team – Gym

1.00 pm

• 2nd XI Football v 2nd XI Silverstream(tbc) -Kilbirnie Park
• Under 80  SPC 1 v Silverstream 1  -Kilbirnie Park 3
• Under 65 Div 1  SPC 1 v Silverstream 1  – Kilbirnie Park 2
• 2nd XV SPC v Porirua 1st XV – Evans Bay Park

2.30 pm

• 1st XV SPC v Silverstream – Evans Bay Park

Front and back cover of 125th Jubilee Book

With 268 pages this book covers the history of the College especially the last 25 years, since the 100th Jubilee. 

Book Sales Price  

• $39.95 – if purchased when completing Jubilee registration
• $49.95 – if purchased at the Jubilee or afterwards

All prices quoted include GST of 12.5%

Alex Fala, Evan Bayly, Loretta Love, Mark McGuinness, Gino Cuccurullo, Peter Irwin, Charlie Graham. Absent: Tony Southall, Leonie Fitzgerald, Patrick Clifford.

The Foundation “absolutely” believes there is support for a Foundation, but in their inaugural issue of “Cornerstone”, they ask the question whether this support extends to members of the College family.

It’s the Foundation’s hope there is belief amongst old boys and benefactors of the College that translates into positive action, akin to that taken by Catholics all over New Zealand 125 years ago when the Society of Mary built the New Zealand’s first Catholic boy’s College, St Patrick’s College Wellington.

The legacy of the founders’ belief is that over 16,000 young men have walked through the College’s doors, a prime example of making a difference and that same conviction is now needed to guide the College through the 21st Century so that it can be the best in a competitive environment. The Foundation’s founders want to ensure that today’s young men have that same opportunity to experience the best of Marist education, both in and out of the classroom.

The Foundation is all about reconnecting Old Boy’s, families and communities to the College, and retaining that tangible connection. www.stpats.school.nz/foundation

In addition to the original commemorative painting, there will be strictly limited number of prints for sale.

An example of Julian Knapp's work: "A Trek Through Wellington". (Click for larger view.)

Commenting on his “A Trek through Wellington” Julian said, “A few years ago after sitting in a city park, looking up at the buildings and being struck with the often missed beauty I decided on painting Wellington. Though I never imagined, at that instant, the change it would bring about to my career. The painting was a two year project, and while it was a risk to spend so long on one painting, all the hard work paid off as it sold, within 20 minutes after being on display, for $39,500. Two years later it resold for $75,000. I’ve also had great success in the limited edition prints released”.

Currently Julian is halfway through an even bigger painting project of London, then all the big cities of the world beckon, starting with New York. We wish Julian further success.

Visit Julian’s work or phone 04 499-6356.