A lovely Old Paradian lunch took place at the RACV Club on Wednesday 11 September. The lunch is remarkable having commenced in 1936. On the second Wednesday of each month, Old Paradians gather to connect, share a meal and listen to a guest speaker in a welcoming environment.

Pat Mount (1962) returned to his Master of Ceremonies role after a holiday up north and controlled proceedings efficiently. It was great to get a report from Leo Collins (1970) on the tremendous win from the Old Paradians’ Football Club to grab the Division 3 NFL Premiership in the Club’s first year in the competition. Leo reflected that it was 54 weeks to the day, that a meeting was held at the Garvey to put the move to the NFL to members. It was an emotional issue for some in the room to move from the VAFA after 93 years. The majority put their faith in the Club leadership and supported the move. 12 months later, the Club has exceeded all expectations. A huge congratulations to the Committee led by President Simon Vincent (1989), Vice Presidents Simon Kerr (1986) and Stephen Philp (1986).

Leo was able to bring the Premiership Cup to the lunch and receive congratulations from guests, a number who were past office bearers at the Club including John Mackey (1950) was President 1971-1972 (1971 a Premiership year); Denis Wheelahan (1951) was Club Secretary 1960-1964; Keith Sharkey (Hon. Old Paradian 2023) was Club President 1984 and Secretary 1988-1989, 2001-2003; Michael McAleer was club Secretary 1991-1992.

Peter Hudson (1970) was invited to the microphone to introduce Terry O’Shannassy (1966), our keynote speaker on the day who delivered a most informative talk on ‘Christian Brothers and Technical Education in Australia’. Starting with the legendary Br James Domenic Burke in Ireland to the arrival of the founding Brothers in Australia. The Christian Brothers were heavily invested in giving opportunities to young and disadvantaged young people. After establishing CBC Parade in Victoria Parade East Melbourne several schools were foundered including technical schools. St Joseph’s South Melbourne, St Joseph’s Abbotsford, St Pauls in Ballarat and St Mary’s Geelong all offered a trade-based, applied learning curriculum. The closure of technical schools in Victoria was devastating for the options and pathways for young people in the state.

Terry was able to use the Parade College applied and Vocational Education Model as an example of how schools have had to adapt to provide relevant, well-resourced technical pathways for its students. Parade is proud of what it has been able to offer its students, being a Registered Training Authority with a multitude of VET programs at Certificate 11, 111 and 1V.

Thank you, Terry for this presentation. We look forward to the October lunch where a reunion of the 1962, 1963 and 1964 years. We will present two awards, Outstanding Service to Phil Carter (1969) and Community Service to John Ramsdale (1965).