On Wednesday July, 4, sixteen members of the Matriculation (year 12) Class of 1958, and one surviving teacher of the “Bluestone Pile” location in East Melbourne, met at the RACV City Club to renew acquaintances and exchange stories of their experiences over the past sixty years.

After such a long time, class members had dispersed to many different places, which made the central city location convenient for those who participated. A number of them came from places outside Melbourne, such as Ocean Grove, Ballarat, and Warrandyte, while one came down from ACT. Apologies were received from Queensland, Western Australia, ACT and New South Wales, as well as from Traralgon and some Melbourne suburbs. A toast was made to remember “absent friends”, naming at least eleven who were known to have passed away.

Stories around the table reflected the diverse fields of endeavour into which Old Paradians have applied their talents over the years, and tribute was made to the efforts of the Brothers in equipping those present for life. Of the teaching staff, only Barry Blake remained, and was present to enjoy the gathering with us. Having taught history in 1958, he went on to hold a chair in linguistics, with a specialty in aboriginal languages, at Latrobe University.

Dennis Green (College captain in 1958) paid tribute to his assistants, David Jones, Vin Arthur and Bill Casey in organising the event.

For the record, those in attendance were: Vin Arthur, Barry Blake, Jim Boyle, Ken Browne, Bill Casey, Dennis Green, Charlie Griss, Peter Hanlon, Michael Hare, Michael Hardy, Maurie Hobbs, David Jones, Bert Miles, Frank Murphy, Peter O’Callaghan, John Petris and Nick Petris

.- Dennis Green