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2009 to 2010 No. 31

Dawie Hoets (X50/52) wrote nostalgically,recently, in an email from his home in Hania on Crete toDave Morrell (A41/44) in Hermanus: “About the pictures of College you sent – particularlythe aerial view: They solved a mystery long in mymind. I had always admired - but never envied - thefive-star parklands of Hilton and Michaelhouse. Whyhad I never envied College grounds? Well, the brokenup campus is very different from their compact setups inthe rustic, rolling Natal Midlands. Now, looking at theaerial view you sent me, the penny dropped. Homer said in his Iliad: He was a friend of man, andlived in a house by the side of a road.And in his search for a formula for right-living, Americanwriter and poet, Walter Foss, refined those words to: Let me live in a house by the side of the road,Where the race of men go by –Is that not exactly what we, at College, were doing intandem with our cloistered lives - being a part of thelarger life happening around us?Add our free access to events in town - not for us thecrocodiles of Kingswood and DSG - where we wereexpected to arrive at the appropriate place at theappropriate time like the gentlemen we were beingtrained to become, and we had a definite educationaladvantage over our secluded rivals.

T h i sv iew might

not be shared by the poor DSG girls who daily had tocycle or walk past the porches of the Merriman and Upperdining rooms while the boys were waiting for their lunchbell to ring. They attracted so many wolf whistles, and

soubriquets that they knew little about and would surelynot have welcomed.”“Challis (Ian Challis X48/52) and his tricks have struckoil again. Last evening while we were playing rummy infront of the computer, the phone rang and a voice withfamiliar gusto identified itself as Michael Sullivan(X5053) (maybe even ‘Sir Michael’ – his father was SirRichard, (E21/24; Dist. Commissioner in Maun,Bechuanaland - 1937-1939). Michael is now a HarleyStreet surgeon. (Sometime President of European SpineSurgeons and world-wide lecturer in spine surgery). Hewas last seen in 1952 as a Merriman pal. He and somefriends are coming to Agios Nikolaos on May 20 to sail ayacht from there to Corfu and he is going to hire a carand travel the 150 km to Hania for a lunchtime “O.A.Reunion”. In addition to all the ‘what happened to so-and-sos’ there will be a lot to reminisce about. Aged 15 or 16, ‘Rocky’ - as we knew him in those days- spent a holiday with me in PE and the two of usmanaged to persuade my folks to allow us to hitch toCape Town to stay with my grandmother. If I remembercorrectly, my old man gave us a quid for the journeyand our night in Mossel Bay on the way down cost tenbob. Coming back, despite all the detours and passes of

that time and our requiring 13 lifts, we managedthe journey in a day.Despite all the tensions and protests, Greeceand the Greeks remain as lovely and asincorrigible as ever.”

Dave Morrell (A41/44) remembersreminiscing with Dawie Hoets last year in Haniaabout his memories of Train Trips to Collegereturning after holidays in Cape Town, leavingon a Tuesday afternoon at about 4pm, 2nd

Class, 6 to a compartment, a full coach load ofAndreans, steaming slowly down to the Gouritz RiverBridge, on to Mossel Bay, George and Knysna, reachingPort Elizabeth on Thursday morning. The day was spentin Port Elizabeth and the night train to Grahamstownleft P.E. about 7 pm dropping the College contingent offat West Hill Station, at around 7 am on Friday. Then we

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strolled down to our respective houses with our handluggage. Our trunks were delivered to the variousHouses by cartage lorry from the main station for us tounpack that afternoon.

Many must have their own memories spring to mind. Later it was discovered we could travel each way via DeAar & Noupoort with lengthy stays of from 2-4 hours ateach, picking up the connection with trains bound toand from Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. Then weleft C.T. on a Wednesday evening at 7 pm and got toCollege on a Friday at 7 am; left College on a Wednesdayevening and got home on a Friday afternoon. And ofcourse all these trips involved shunting of coaches fordifferent destinations at the junction at Alicedale. Howmany Andreans have been left behind there becausethey were absorbed in sporting activities like saying Halloor Good Bye to friends from the D.S.G. or playing gamesof “Penny-Penny” which demanded the fullestconcentration for on-going financial success? (Howmany have swum in the Fishpond at Naauwpoort in aneffort to cool off; who knows what happened at De Aar? But back to Alicedale... “I can remember one event therevividly where two or three of us missed getting back ontothe train but managed to “hitchhike” a lift orthree or

four, from kindlypeople, from Alice-dale to Cradock, across theKarroo, and eventually catchingup with our Coach waiting for theJohannesburg down connection at Naauwpoor t . Recounting the success of our “Adventure” to our parentson our safe arrival in Cape Town, I can vividly remembermy father in particular was not impressed. Hopefullyhe never got to hear of other fun & games. Those werethe Days!! There must be many tales waiting to be told...,one wonders... on subsequent outings and returns withother more recent and more flighty forms of transport. Come on, College!! Come on Chaps... let’s hear of some,get posterity “modern”, “cool” and up to date. It’s theSpirit that counts - doubtless the same Spirit. Is themoral of the story: “It is better to travel, than to arrive”?

David Wylde (A5862) since retiring as headmaster ofCollege, has been involved with a new initiative, calledPRINCIPAL TO PRINCIPAL. The Principal to Principalinitiative is a reaching out process by a retired principalto present practising principals in all areas of school lifeand development. It is a practical coaching and

mentoring process that allows for development ofPrincipals ,SMT’s, SGB’S, Community, Learners andEducators, in a whole school development initiative.PRINCIPAL TO PRINCIPAL walks with a practisingprincipal through the school day, week, month, andyear, and looks together, withoutimposition of views, at thechallenges of educator /learner interaction,timetables, school

discipline, educator capacity,facilities, educator availability,vision, mission, community engage-ment, and all aspects that make up aschool and the challenges for theleadership of the Principal. Most of allPTP acknowledges that to be a teamleader one needs a team. CapacitatingPrincipals must go hand in hand withcapacitating educators and SMT’s.PTP has this year, 2009, achieved thecoaching and mentoring of 10 Principalsin rural/township High schools and feeder Primaryschools, and in those schools, based on a needs analysis,introduced house systems and vertical tutor groups,which build a culture of care; led leadership academiesfor grade 11 learners and principals; facilitated strategicworkshops which included Educators, Principals, SGB’s,SMT’s, Learners, Parents, General Workers.

From James McNaughton (A5761):I am glad to be able to report that sales of my book,“It’s Better to Laugh” have gone very well and I havebeen overcome by compliments and kind commentssent by e-mail and phone calls. I am indeed gratefulfor the fantastic supportreceived from OAs

and thepublic ingeneralw h i c h

has madethe effort inwr iting it allworthwhile. Thebook is nowavailable at mostbookshops country-wide includingExclusive Books andWordsworth Books.(Mac hopes James islaughing all the wayto the bank!)

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Willem Kempen (U5760) writes:Just to let you know I am still here in the Antipodesdoing the hard yard in retirement :-) There seems to bea never-ending list of jobs to be performed.Living in a small country town in the Outback of Australiahas its advantages, but tradespeople are difficult to comeby and so I have to put my life skills to use in repairingand renovating our 110 year old stone cottagewhich needs constant attention, or so it seems. I chat on an irregular basis via SKYPE with CliveLardner-Burke (RSA), Hamish Rumball (Portugal) andMichael Nicolai (Canada). Have caught up in recentmonths with James McNaughton, Paul Naish and DerekBowker via email. Winter is approaching and the 4x4 is being prepped foranother adventurous excursion intothe Gibson and GreatSandy Desertregions ofAustra l iato look fora n c i e n trock arta n dartefacts.I haver e c e n t l yadded an e wpage tomy website,where those who are interested in Rock Art may perusethe photographs. The page is available herehttp://www.kempen.id.au/index.php?id_pag=108 Am still enjoying a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle despiteolder age complaints. My motto is “Mind overmatter”...hahahaha

Robert Caldwell (M5862) considers the subjectof Hippie Fellowship:

Alas, the fancy red squash-racquet is in mothballs.The orthopod, who has a new one

himself (hip, not racquet), so he shouldknow, says that my old one (hip,

not racquet) packed in becauseof fifty-two years of indifferentsquash. Value for money, I’dsay. So Laurie Butlin(M6568), Russell Powell(E8689) and BarrieBarnes (U6262) arebattling the Hilton-Howicksummer league one short(OA, not hip/racquet).When I was transferred tothe two-bedded wardwith a shiny newc a d m i u m - c h r o m ereplacement (hip, notracquet), who should bemy companion after

similar surgery but Mike Beamish (aka Squish, M5054).(Mac: as in squish racquet, not hip) Visiting him justthen was AJG Thomson (Tommy to most, M5153, akaSavage or Gengis: ferocious on the flank and presumablyparticularly punishing of left-wingers.) Just before theop I’d bumped into Ed Milne. I fagged for both ET(M5458) and AT (M5559): both aka Muddy. Theirbloody rugby jerseys certainly were: and their mothertold mine (Mac: mother, not jersey) that their white-shirt-collars never recovered from the Lifebuoy soap oneso tenderly applied. My great pal Geoff Cardwell(M5862) is waiting patiently in NZ for his new hip. So: amarvellous Mullins House support-system shepherdedus cheerfully through the bedbaths and longish nights,and convinced our beloved physioterrorists that necaspera terrent meant eina! - ons skrik vir niks.So instead of squashing it’s swimming, or failing to drownmore like it: glad that Tudor Lacey (M5659) is at DSGand not here to watch. He and Neil Oldridge (M5659)and other almost as illustrious swimmers were a MullinsHouse dynasty in that era. We less amphibious mortalscould merely marvel, and envy the extra slices of toastthey were allowed when coming in to supper late aftertraining every week-night.Wonder how many Old Andreans are possessors of alienbody-parts: might make an interesting study? (Mac: alienbody parts? I have always fancied ears like Mr Spock’s!)A reunion would surely throw airport security intocacophony. Could Mac / The Bagpipe please reassurethe College lawyers that there’s no intention to sue forcompulsory school-day contortions that might havecontributed to degenerative conditions in later life (OAhippie-racket)? Must stop: famished after dog-paddle…

Frank Baartman (G5963) reports that he has left theland of his birth, left behind 10 generations of familyhistory and is now living in The Chilterns, UK.

Joe Newton (M5962, G63) writes: I have abrother, Des Newton (M6063) who has now written abook called “Sporting Travels of a Karoo Son” just toadd to the list of Andean authors. This book is availableon his website, www.desnewton.com and is a great read,not because it is about the two of us growing up on thefarm, but also his Prep and College years, but check itout for yourselves, check the reviews, and it won’t betoo long before it is available in this country. It hasm a n ystories ofh i s

days atPrep, Collegeand later of hisvarsity days and where sport has taken him in his life.

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Chris Morton (G5964) writes: I am an OA and Itaught at College and was master i/c rowing 1973-1975. Please could you put a note in the Bagpipe that I amwriting a book about College’s 50 years of rowing andany OA or parent who would like tosend in memories andphotos would bevery welcometo do so;

send items and contact me at: chris.morton@comcast.net.

Gerald Buisman (E6266) writes that he marriedElizabeth van Wijk in June 2009. She is one of the vastCollett clan from Fish River. He adds: I am now rectorof St James’s Church in Graaff-Reinet. I was very sad to

read the obituary of Spencer “Spanner” Watson in “TheAndrean”. Had hoped we might meet again some time.News from Ron Forbes (A6165): I recently flew out toDouala in Cameroon to hook up with my son, Rob, whois busy cycling solo for charity from the UK to SouthAfrica in time for the World Cup. As if cycling wasn’tenough, he’s doing it as an ‘ultra triathlon’ - he’s swumthe Straits of Gibraltar, will cycle over 19,000 km (14,200km so far) and plans on running the Comrades at theend of May! My 10 days with Rob in Cameroon weregreat fun. I met up with the exhausted, dust covered,‘Bin Laden’ lookalike, near a town called Kumba, wherewe spent a night in a pretty basic hotel offering runningwater, a hand wash laundry service and luxury comparedwith Rob’s weeks on the road. We then went to Buea atthe base of Mount Cameroon, the still active volcanoand had a great 4 days hiking up the mountain and downthe other side to the coast. Rob wrote in his blog, withdue reverence to his father, as follows:

“Mount Cameroon High - Day 126 - Weds 3 Feb -11,858 km Limbe, CameroonThe old man rolled back the years and scaled the highestmountain in West Africa with an ease and grace thatbelied his OAP status, leaving altitude-sick youngsters

and porters in his wake. In the porters’ defencethey were heavily laden with a four day supply ofwater, Marion’s world renowned brownies

(massive thanks) and Malt Loaf one of which wasjoyfully consumed in celebration at the summit.

Descending across spectacular lava fields and into themisty rainforests of the second wettest place on earthbelow, we were also rewarded with an amazing sighting,despite the smell emanating from the old boy’s trekkingfeet, of the highly endangered and elusive rainforestelephant! Taking father and son bonding to a level Icould have done without, my biggest challenge wasn’tthe 4095m summit, but having to share a one man tentwith the extremely ripe snoringmachine - I now havenew found respect forthe old dear .......let’s hope not alltraits run in thefamily!”

Details of his trip thus far, together with photos and hisamusing blog, can be found on www.tri4africa.co.ukHe’s currently stuck in Kinshasa trying to get an Angolanvisa, which is proving a real challenge. Let’s hope thevisa issue gets resolved soon and that by the time youget to read this, he’ll have made it to Pietermaritzburgfor the Comrades.

Dear Mac, writes Harold Currie (E6468),attached please find a photo of the Espin play whichfollowed House Suppers in 1968. (Regrettably the photowasn’t forwarded to Mac, but the list of characters islittle diminished by its absence) We did a rendition of“Cocky Lobin” with Arthur Coy doing his bit as the“lead” singer with a good English/Xhosa accent. As youwill see, there are a few “intruders” from other houses.Maybe Espin house supper show got Ian Roberts goingwith his acting career!!!In the photo (l to r) Richard “Fickles” Fickling (E) MarkPatterson (U), Tim Southey (U), Harold (Aitch) Currie(E), Tex Freemantle(E), Arthur “Arter” Coy (E), Andre“Van” van Niekerk (E), Ian Roberts (U), Jo Hansen (E),Keith “ Tiddles” Titley (E), Paul “Bushpig” Uys (A),Peter”Duck” Coutts (E).

David Hodgson (A4649) who was Master i/cHockey from 1958 to the end of 1970 writes that hewas so pleased to learn recently that (besides playerslike Brian Belchers (M5863) and Roger Bickford(X6064) - both members of hockey sides that he

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coached and who subsequently were Springbok hockeyplayers) Graham Louden Carter (G6569) had achievedSpringbok hockey umpiring Colours during the 1980s.Graham, who was a goalkeeper during his College timeand a member of the 1969 hockeytour to Z i m b a b w e(Rhodesia at the time), wroteto David to say that hep l a y e d goalkeeper inthe Eastern

Province Under 21, Country Districts and full EasternProvince teams whilst studying at the University of PortElizabeth, and was also selected to play for the SouthAfrican Universities team during that time.He took up umpiring whilst still playing regularly, andduring the period between 1976 and 1987 was one ofSouth Africa’s top hockey umpires, umpiring regularlyat Inter-Provincial and Club Champions tournamentsfor both outdoor and indoor hockey. He alsoaccompanied national teams touring Europe, includingthe SA Schools and SA Universities teams, as well asbeing selected to attend the annual unofficial internationalindoor hockey tournament in Holland on 3 occasions.He umpired an Under 21 outdoor international betweenSouth Africa and France, and was awarded fullSpringbok colours for umpiring the South Africa vsIreland test series.David Hodgson concludes by saying that Graham hasobviously given great service to hockey after leavingCollege - and at the present time (2009) is continuing toplay and enjoy the game in the UK. Graham does saythat he gave up playing goalkeeper many years ago ...but that he can only play every 2 or 3 weeks this seasonsince he had had to have knee operations. If he playsmore frequently the knees never recover! He says thatit is very frustrating not being able to run aroundnormally, and especially with the twisting and turningthat are so much part of the game. At his agecontinuing to play and obviously getenjoyment

from thegame asa teammember

is reallyexcellent!

In asubsequent

communication, David Hodgson added that later in2009 Graham had angina problems and subsequentlyhad to have a tr iple heart bypass. The goodnews, however, is that Graham reports that his healthis now good and he has completely recovered from hisheart surgery and actually feels stronger that he didbefore! (Mac: another OA with alien body parts…!) Heand his wife are looking forward to getting out to spend12 days with his mother in Cape Town.

Rick Melvill (A7176) writes to say that he andSue have a new boy in Armstrong this year: Zach, afourth generation Melvill at College following Max andJames.Rick is founder and creative director of award winning

event and internalcommunications companyUnplugged, a partner

(along with Rob) inMelvill & Moonand owns theP r y n n s b e r gEstate outsideClocolan.

Prynnsberg has a College link in that the originalcreator of Prynnsberg, diamond magnate CharlesNewberry, sent his sons to College in the late 1890s.“To Armstrong obviously”, adds Rick.

Max Melvill (A 07) qualified as a ski instructor inFrance in his gap year in 08. He enrolled at UCT (SmutsHall) to study architecture in 09. He saw off thechallenges of first year diversions last year to comethrough with a 1st and is endeavouring to do the samein his second year. (Mac: his French experience obviouslyhelped him negotiate the slippery slopes of UCT!)

The Hobson tribe are gathering from all over theworld to celebrate their family reunion at the Wheatlandssports club (farm of Arthur Short and sons, all OAs),over the Easter weekend where their ancestors beganone of South Africa’s oldest cricket clubs, Harefield.Many of the generations of Hobsons are Old Andreansand the tradition continues today. Mac has heard there’sa whacky Hobson, Alan, (E7478) who has pioneered“Wild fly fishing in theKaroo” - didn’t knowthey actually hadwater there!A p p a r e n t l ythey grow troutup to 8 poundsin Somerset-East and offerphenomena lyellow fishing.(Sounds fishyto me).

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Stafford Poyser (E7680) has been elected President ofthe Sydney Eastern Suburbs Law Society for the 2010year. (Mac: is that a euphemism for the localpenitentiary?)

From Dacre Haddon (E7577): Settling into mynew role as a DA Provincial MP (elected 22nd April lastyear) .I have to do a lot of commuting from PE to Bhishovia Grahamstown. With a team of 6 DAs in the Legislature we are making ahuge impact.I am spokesperson on Housing, Transport and LocalGovernment.

I have adaughter atDSG now soI have more

reasons tostop in to

G r a h a m s t o w nand visit College

and reminisce aboutmy heady days at

College.

Rob Sloman (E74/78) says: We are all well andafter completing my stint in New Zealand as Asia PacificManager I accepted a local role in Brisbane aiming togrow the Construction part of the business. Last yearwas slow due to the recession which was a good thingas it provided us with time to recruit and hone in onwhat we can do and cannot do. The recession has drivenstimulus spending which has boosted governmentspending on infra structure projects. Australia hasembraced LN gas in the North West ($43 billion) andCoal Seam gas on the East ($10billion) so we have plentyahead of us. My business does from inner city work(basements for High Risebuildings) to road andrail duplications,any blastingrelated

to infrastructure development such as site establishment,trenches for pipes and mine developments.The family are all good and the boys are in a little PrivateBoys’ School which goes from Prep to year 12 (Moreton

Bay Boys’ College). A culture like St Andrew’s, withoutthe history. Academically both are flying well, must havegot that side from their mum. Australia is very big onnational testing and Joshua has achieved well with aHigher Distinction in science (top 2.5% in Australia), anda Distinction in English (definitely from mum). Matthewis in Prep and is very outgoing preferring to spend sparetime with the teachers than the other kids. Like Joshua,maths comes easily to him and he is in the Gifted andTalented stream even though he is in Prep.... long mayit last.Rachel has a part time job in school hours which is greatas she pays for the schooling and holidays.

News about Nic and Tim Barrow is that Nic is inJohannesburg doing articles and writing Board 1 at theend of January 2010, while Tim is 2nd year atStellenbosch (ie 2009) and coaching Somerset Westrowing.

Nigel Marsh (E7983) reports: Marshes enjoyingCrusader Country. Been in Christchurch for 10 years. A couple of years ago joined by my parents, Paul andAnn. I run the Coaching Department for CanterburyC r i c k e t while my wife is the

Head Teacher at a localkindergarten. 2 sonsare avid cricketers. Iwill be bringing outmy boys’ school teamto the Eastern Cape inSeptember 2012.Hope College is goingwell.

Lance Higgins (X8386) says he left College and followedin the “Old man’s “ foot steps by becoming a ProfessionalHunter, Fully licensed in ‘ 89, he has had a great career,met some really brilliant people overthe years,

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and caught many breeding crocodiles for a number ofcrocodile farms. He is currently in the farming industry,doing Seed maize, soya beans and wheat, still hunting -when he’s allowed. (Mac: if I were Mrs H, I’d be worriedabout those crocodiles too…)He continues: I met and married an Old Kingswood girlSian (Evans) - 15 years in November. We have 2 sons ,Darryl - 14 yrs and Christopher - 12 yrs, Great news isthat Darryl did a year at Prep and is now a new boy inMerriman; Chris is to follow next year .It’s quite amazing how life has turned out. We live inMazabuka, Zambia, and I’m surrounded by OAs andDSG Old Girls .My fag-master is a few farms down theroad- Craig Quenet, as is the 1985 head of schoolAndrew Taylor, and my wife’s sister (also an old KC girl)Ceri also married an OA - Shane Coventry. There are anumber of OLD KC lads (I mean OLD) and we still haveour banters over who is the better school, and we - OAs- always dominate.

From Trevor van der Merwe (U7983): Aftermoving the family to the UK, I started an airline

brokerage called Atlantic Wings. We nowhave a presence on 3.5

c o n t i n e n t s ,specialising in wet

and dry leasing andairliner acquisitions. We have

clients in Africa, Eastern Europe,Asia and the Middle East. Businessis good. (Mac: 3.5 continents?? OhI see – the wet leasing is of those

planes that didn’t quite make it onto the continent, andhad to land in the sea...)My boys, Eric and Brent are both in high school and aresoaring. Long may it continue.I see/hear from Andrew la Trobe, not very often. Hisexcuse is that he is busy trying to save RBS! HunterGillies moved to San Francisco when he heard we werecoming which I did feel was a bit extreme.Fly safe!

Another person involved with those flyingmachines is Leslie Williams (X8286) who married MariaSteyn and has two sons booked into College. Leslie hasachieved his life

ambition and is now a captain flying for SAA. He is livingin Heidelberg, Gauteng.Brother Paul Williams (X8387) marr ied BridgetMcMurray and has two sons. He has furthered hiseducation and obtained an MBA. He is a senior sales

manager in a large building supply business and lives inHillcrest, Natal.

Christopher Tinley (X8790), now anophthalmologist, after some 19 years’ study atStellenbosch and UK hospitals, returned to Cape Townand is practising at the Children’s Red Cross Hospital,Mowbray.... he was a keen piper in the College band.(Mac notes that by coincidence this news follows that of2 other pipers in the band, Leslie and Paul Williams!)

Pete Goodyer (G8892) continues to gain muchfrom teaching in the UK. He has recently been appointedto the post of Deputy Headmaster at Colston’s School,in Bristol. He will be taking up the post in Septemberafter spending twelve very successful years at St. John’sSchool in Leatherhead. He is getting married in Augustto his gorgeous fiancé Laura, after which they are lookingforward to setting up home in Gloucestershire. He isvery honoured to have his 1st XV front row partnerJames Christie (X 8791) as his Best Man. James

continues to serve in the British Army as a Major andwill be commanding his troops on a tour of duty inAfghanistan later this year. Rev Ted Goodyer (Chaplainat St. Andrew’s 88-92) continues as the vicar of St.Mary’s Alverstroke; he doesn’t stop and works tirelesslyto support all members of the parish with compassionand kindness. Tim Goodyer (G8992) and his wife Ellencontinue to enjoy life in Bermuda and were blessed withthe birth of their first child, a beautiful daughter namedAbi, in January.

Tim Stones (X9396) writes: On the 19thJanuary 2010, Lisa and I were blessed with asecond son, and brother for Brendan. Wehave named him Rory David. Thereis already a distinct bondbetween the twobrothers. Brendanhas just turned3, and wer e c e n t l ywatched himcompeting in

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)

his playschool “Sports Day”. I am delighted to reportthat he won his race, later saying that “I run to Daddylike the wind”! I am a proud and enormously gratefulDad.My own running continues, with the experience of theTaipei Deaflympics still fresh in my mind. I have beenfortunate to be afforded fantastic opportunities toexperience different countries and cultures by virtue ofboth my employment and my sport. This April, I willmake my way to Romania, to represent Britain at the9th European Deaf Cross-Country Championships,running the 4km and 12km events. I am hoping theimage of Count Drac hot on my heels will inspire mewhen I compete!In February, I competed in my first Masters competition,running four events at the WP Masters Championships.I competed in the 30-34 age-group, and won two Goldmedals (10 000m and the 400m), and two Silver medals(1 500m and the 5 000m). I have been selected torepresent Boland at the SA Masters AthleticsChampionships. As the Nationals take place just 3 daysafter my return from Romania, I know I will have to digdeep to achieve a medal. But that is what I am lookingforward to the most – the challenge of it! Perhaps we donot fully appreciate the significance of our school’s motto– Nec Aspera Terrent – but, time and time again,throughout my life, I have been inspired by these words.My journey has taken me from zero muscle tone at birth,adapting to a hearing world with severe hearing loss,post-viral Parkinsonism in 2007, to a world filled withpossibility and amazing opportunities. Nec AsperaTerrent. My life has taught me to strive to see the beautyin every situation, and to sing with the birds in the trees,for they do not concern themselves with thoughts oftomorrow. After all, it is the actions we take today thatwill determine the course of tomorrow.The biggest lessons I have learnt are that “impossible” isjust a word that exists in a dust-covered dictionary in theback of a forgotten attic … And that raising a loving andfulfilled family is, ultimately, the most importantachievement of one’s life.Following my participation at the WP Masters AthleticsChampionships, I competed at the first ever WesternCape Deaf 10km Championships, held in Worcester. Thiswas the first such championship for the Deaf to be heldin South Africa and, to my knowledge; it was also aworld first. It was a great experience, and I happened towin.It was also good experience for me as I finalise mypreparations for the 9th European Deaf Cross-CountryChampionships, which take place in Romania on 23 and24 April 2010. I will be representing Great Britain inboth the 4km and the 12km events. It will be a completelydifferent experience to the Marathon, in which I havepreviously represented Britain, but it is a welcome returnto my running roots, as it was Cross-Country running atCollege that instilled in me my lifelong passion forrunning.I won’t have any time to rest on my return as, on 30April and 1 May, I will be representing Boland at the SA

Masters Athletics Championships. I wasformally informed of my selectionyesterday (30 March), and amthrilled at this opportunity. I willdefinitely be competing inthe 10 000m, and mycoach wants me to runthe 1500m as well.

Tom Salmon(G9599) and hiswife Colleenhave had aboy.

J o n a t h a nE l l i o t t(A9599) writes: HiMac, I will be running theLondon Marathon on April 25th as part of TeamCaterpillar. We will be attempting to break the Guinness

World Record for mostm a r a t h o n e r s

joinedtogether (32 runners) and aim toraise in excess of 100K pounds for a group of 12 charities.You can read more about this on my website http://jonnoelliott.wordpress.com/challenge/ with links to theCaterpillar and Charity pages. I am living and working in NYC with my wife Nicola. Iam a macro/trading fund analyst for Robeco-SageCapital. I look forward to catching up with some OAs at the annualNorth American OA dinner on May 28th in NYC. Julian Goldswain (X8892) reports: I’ve been marriedfor nearly 8 years now, with 2 strapping young boys of 3and 4 running circles around us.

We wererecently

g i v e nR600 000, and are overthe moon at being able to afford a miracle house inPinelands. We’ll be moving in at the end of April.I bumped into Doug Beyers at an end of year studentshow recently - great fun chatting about the old days atMerriman.

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I also connect regularly with Robert (X8891) andWilliam Guillum Scott (X8790) who are at the samechurch as us.I’ve just started lecturing in Photography, and accepteda post as Programme Co-ordinator at Prestige Academyin Cape Town in 2010.

Hilton Sinclair (G8791) writes: Just to let youknow that that my wife and I had a lovely baby girl TanaSinclair on the 6th July 2009. We are still living inWindhoek and see Kevan McNamara (E8791) and hisfamily. My Brother Oliver (G8892) andhis wife had a tiny boy, Tyler RaySinclair on the 21st January2010.

Leendert Remmelzwaal (M0204) writes: Aftermatriculating in 2004, I flew to CT and (despiteoccasional travelling) I’ve been here ever since. I’mturning out to be a perpetual student, but with goodreason. In 2008, I finished my BSc in MechatronicsEngineer ing, then subsequently an MSc inComputational Neuroscience (AI) in 2009. Now in 2010,I am studying Politics, specifically International Relations.Why, you may ask?

Between studying, starting a business and lecturing atUCT, my interests revolve heavily around education.My degree in Neuroscience tackled the problem fromthe individual’s perspective – how the brain works, what

is consciousness and how we learn and store memories.Politics (combined with international economics), isteaching me how individuals collaborate, form national,regional and global identities, and how public and foreignpolicy creates both opportunity and barriers to educationand equality.Where to from here? I’m currently applying to universitiesoverseas for 2011/12, in an attempt to satisfy my hungerto learn more, but we’ll see how that works out. Overall,exciting stuff!

Sam Cornish (G00/01) is engaged to ClaireLouise Doody, due to be married in June 2011. He iscurrently living and working in London, but about tochange jobs to take up a position at Goldman Sachs.

Sebastian Davies and Grant Ross (both X9802)wrote: Grant and Sebastian here. Have a look at ourwebsite of our bicycle ride through Africa and Europe.www.cyclenorthsouth.co.za and maybe you could raisesome awareness for us by including us in the Bagpipe.Cheers from Rwanda. (Mac: recent news was of theirhome-coming to Grahamstown a few weeks ago, afterthis epic trip. Hatsoff to you,boys!)

Footnote: Mac is disturbed to note that the recessionhas found expression in a much scantier response thisyear. This must be the shortest Bagpipe ever. Still, itsaves paper ...

Please send your literary gem to: Mac, St Andrew'sCollege, P.O. Box 182, Grahamstown, 6140

or by email to: Mac@sacschool.com