The Old Paradians’ Association held its monthly lunch at the RACV Club recently. The lunch marked the 88th anniversary of the lunch, first held in October 1936!

There were 80 guests in the room and Peter Johnston (1973) did an excellent job as our Master of Ceremonies. Fr. Brian Glasheen (1955) led the group with grace where a delightful meal was had.

John Sonneveld (1962 ) Vietnam Veteran helicopter pilot was our guest speaker on the day. John was accompanied by his therapy dog Benson. John spoke of the many missions flown in Vietnam and overwhelmingly the audience appreciated how each day it was a huge gamble whether he would return to base alive. Flying just above the tree line, even to heights of just 5 feet off the ground, identifying land mines, alerting of enemy positions and rescues in very dangerous territory and terrain, were common daily missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his exemplary service of his country in the Vietnam War. His story of adopting a Vietnamese child, one of the thousands left orphaned in the war was heartwarming.

We were also able to present two Old Paradians’ Association awards at the lunch. Phil Carter (1969), College Captain in his final year was awarded the ‘Outstanding Service’ award. He was joined by his nieces and friends to help celebrate the award. Phil served on the OPA Executive for 6 years, and volunteered weekly, up to 2 days a week assisting the Association with managing and updating its databases, particularly those Old Paradian’s who are on our social media platform LinkedIn. Phil served on the Committee ‘Awards Sub-committee’ and his contributions were highly valued. Phil is a most deserving recipient of this award.

John Ramsdale (1965) was awarded the Association’s ‘Community Service Award’ John has been an active member of St Vincent de Paul since 2011 acting as Secretary and currently President of the Montmorency Conference since 2022. He has been the recipient of the Jaga Jaga Community Service award for his services to ‘Vinnies’ John was a member of the OPA Executive for 10 years. He worked closely with Tony De Bolfo in the production of ‘Parade Thy Sons’ Volumes 1 and 2 acting as its editor.

John was an excellent teacher and mentor in his long professional career. He was an award-winning teacher/educator of Geography. He taught at Parade until 1989, his later years there were as a Year 12 Coordinator. John was joined by his wife Sue and daughter Cecilia at the lunch. Congratulations on a thoroughly deserved award.

The lunch was a busy one. There was a 1964 school reunion that took place. Thanks go to Pat Mount (1963) for his work in reaching out to Old Paradians and getting them to the event.