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Herewith a couple of notes and comments
received. Please keep them coming and special thanks to those that took
time out to send material and comments, your support is greatly
appreciated.
Please note that I will not be on line from the 21
June till 29 June. As and when I can I will be back on line and sending
material.
Till then, stay safe and no falling off your
perch!
SIGNING IN
Suellen
Tarran. (Dewar)
I attended Umtali Girls high School from 1963
to 1965. My parents and sister left Rhodesia for England and then
Australia where we have been ever since.
Maiden Name Suellen
Dewar.
Married Name Suellen Tarran.
Live in Sydney and I am a
science teacher.
Adrienne Dawn (nee Taylor) Chapman
(Mrs)
Adrienne is organising the London Centenary
reunion.
HISTORY OF UMTALI SCHOOL CHAPER
6
Dave Macdonald
Writes:-
Ex Montibus Robur!!! I'm sure that the
corrugated-iron two-office building in the photo with Mr. Fleming was
still there in the sixties when I attended UBHS, and was then in use as
the school museum. I was a member of the Museum Society and the most
fascinating item on display was a jar of formaldehyde containing a human
embryo, alongside jars of pickled puff adders and other such curiosities.
There were also panoramic displays (backgrounds by art master Mr. Jock
Forsyth) of stuffed birds and animals, many of them done by Ian Jarvis who
I accompanied on occasional specimen gathering camps in the lowveld (Hot
Springs area). Some iron age mining relics found on our farm were also
donated to the museum. I wonder if its all still there. Mr. H.J. Theron
was an institution at the school. But, faced with a choice of Afrikaans
lessons with Meneer T'ron, or French with Mademoiselle Cook (later Mrs.
Mike Griffiths) - there was no contest in my mind and I remain an ardent
Francophile to this day. Hey! This was the sixties (mini skirts and all
that) and at an all boys school (just as we were starting to appreciate
the opposite sex) Miss Cook had a monopoly on second language choice until
Miss Kleynhans (didn't she marry Mr. Nic Pheiffer?) came to restore some
balance following Mr Theron's retirement.
UMTALI FLY-PAST XMAS DAY
1979
Betty Anne Henderson
Writes:-
Thanks. Brings back memories of when my late
husband , who was a Flying Instructor with the RAF at Heany in Byo, flew
to Umtali, parked the aircraft on the landing strip, where it remained all
week-end un harmed, to ask my parents for "my hand in marriage"!!!!
Comment by Eddy Norris
Had
notification that this article was read in Afghanistan! Amazing where our
mail is forwarded to.
UPDATE: UMTALI HIGH CENTENARY REUNION -
BRISBANE
Ray Thorne
Writes:-
The organisers of the Umtali High Centenary Reunion
to be held in Brisbane are delighted to announce that Peter & Zia
Browne have accepted an invitation to be the Guests of Honour at the
dinner on 12 September.
Peter was the last Commanding Officer of the
4th (Manicaland) Battalion of the Rhodesian Regiment before the handover
in 1980. Peter and his wife, Zia, are currently spending 10 months in
Australia with family and both have close associations with Umtali and
Umtali schools.
As guest speaker, Peter will share some of his many
memories of Umtali and Umtali High from the point of view of a pupil (he
attended school in Umtali from September 1947 to July 1950), as a parent
(Peter and Zia’s three daughters all attended UGHS) and as a prominent
leader in the local community.
The reunion dinner will be held at
6.30pm Saturday 12 September at the University of Queensland in St Lucia,
Brisbane. This will be followed by a picnic from 10.30am on Sunday 13
September at the Kangaroo Cliffs Park at Kangaroo Point next to the
Brisbane River.
More than 70 people have booked for the dinner and
attendees include pupils from each of the decades from the
1940s!
Bookings for the dinner are essential by 12 August – contact Ray
Thorne (UBHS 1971–76) at email: mr.c...@bigpond.com
UPDATE:
UMTALI HIGH CENTENARY REUNION - DURBAN
Roy Hendry (in Pietermaritzburg) writes:
“I
am going to stick my neck out and let Umtali Rugby Fans know that the
Currie Cup Final is going to be held in Durban on Saturday, 31 October
2009, when the Sharks will defend their title against either the Blue
Bulls or the Stormers. Any takers? Jokes aside, the point I wish to make
is that the Umtali High Reunion in Durban is going to take place on the
day thereafter - Sunday, 1 November 2009, at Kearsney College in
Hillcrest, when we will celebrate our School Centenary.
So, to all you
ex-Umtali-ites in far off places and in other SA Provinces, why not make
the most of the occasion and come and join us? By all means, attend your
local Reunion, but this is an opportunity that cannot be missed - even if
the Sharks don’t win! A large gathering of ex-pupils and other Umtali-ites
are expected to attend the ‘mother-of-all’ celebrations at Kearsney
College on 1 November 2009. Exciting news is that Mike Whiley (of UBHS
fame) will be a Guest of Honour, as will - if he can make it - Denis
Hutchinson (ex UHS, former SA Open Golf Champion and renowned TV Golf
commentator). Guaranteed, it will be an event to be remembered….!
For
the record, Mike Griffiths, Celliers Heymans, Peter ‘Wonk’ Walker, Eric
Deane-Williams, Derick van Zyl, ‘Goofy’ Reich and ‘Spanner’ Stanton send
greetings to all who remember them from their School days”.
Roy is on
hend...@telkomsa.net
UPDATE: UMTALI HIGH CENTENARY REUNION -
London
Adrienne Dawn (nee Taylor)
Chapman (Mrs.)
Date : Saturday 12th September 2009
Time:
12noon until we tired and want to go home.
Type of event: Picinic in
the park, bring your own blanket (folding chair if you can't sit on the
ground) your own picnic food.
City: London.
Now previously I was
looking at Hyde Park, I was also looking at a speaker I was also
suggesting gazebos etc..then the admin moved me to Kensington gardens and
there was restrictions on numbers.
So all of this has changed and I
have found a more simple way of putting it together.
I have spoken with
English friends one of whom is having an office picinic in Regents
park...and then Tony a councillor friend said Adrienne use St James park
it is the closest to London Charing cross station and a public place and
so long as you not selling, BBQ cooking etc...you can meet up there with
as many as you like, everyone is bringing their own picinic..so that is
what we will all do.
I will be looking into the exact entrance side
of St James park so we find each other, and also putting on a website a
badge with space for everyone to write their name, and so people can print
this off in advance and wear it on the day so we know who all has come to
link up with each other.
BITS 'n PIECES
Will circulate Chapter 7
of the Umtli Schools history during this week. Hope you enjoy it.
Stay
well.
Remember those of ours that are ill - keep them in your thoughts
and prayers.
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