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Wedderburn Cup
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Boarder Lines - Newsletter - June 1999Closed weekend - McMeckan tightens grip on Wedderburn Cup ...The closed weekend of the 22/23 May was a great weekend of friendly competition and good fun, with boys getting together to let off steam before knuckling down to the serious business of studying for exams. On Friday night competitions in 'Thunder' Hockey were held in the upstairs gym of the Glenn Centre. The matches were played at a furious pace in a round robin format between Years 9-10 and Years 10-12. Thanks to the expertise of Hilton Munro's refereeing the games' rules were reasonably adhered to in a hectic encounter. It was certainly exciting to watch, with a tremendous atmosphere. Arthur Rob emerged victorious over the evening. Prior to the Thunder Hockey a group of boys ventured to the Hawthorn Small Bore Rifle Club to engage in a rifle shooting competition. The best sharp shooters on the Hill turned out to be from McMeckan followed by School House and Arthur Rob.
On Saturday afternoon, after boys had completed their sporting commitments, various excursions took place. Go-Karting again proved popular at Keysborough, a large group went to Chadstone to the cinema, while another group supported the 1st XVIII on the main oval, and finally some boys went indoor rock climbing. That night a special Karaoke evening was held in the Annexe. It was just a fun evening to find out what latent talent was hiding amongst the boys. Various lads and staff got up to 'strut their stuff' judged by our celebrity judges Matrons Russell, Stanley and Gill. Mr Mason did a 'Red Simons' on the gong and prizes were awarded for each performer, as well as a special prize for the best talent and another for the most entertaining act. Sean Fitzpatrick's rendition of 'I'm Just a Country Boy' proved to be the highlight of the evening and Angus Crawford's hilarious antics were rewarded with the prize for the most entertaining act.
After a quiet Sunday morning to rest and gather strength, competition began in earnest to decide the winner of this term's Wedderburn Cup. It began with Egg Catching on the Dining Hall Lawn, a delicate skill involving throwing and catching an egg between two people progressively stepping further away until the opponents were eliminated by breaking the egg. School House proved to be the champions of the event. This was followed by the great Gumboot Toss, again held on the lawn. This event involved the hurling of a gum boot as far as possible by whatever manual means was deemed most appropriate to gain maximum distance. A large crowd of spectators enjoyed the contest which was eventually won by McMeckan. While most of us went into the Dining Hall for a hearty lunch, a group of lads were saving themselves for the Donut Eating contest to be held on the lawn immediately afterwards. Three boys per House were given the task of consuming as many chocolate coloured donuts as they could in the allotted time. After much urging on by their supporters School House emerged as being the best gluttons on the Hill followed by McMeckan and Arthur Rob.
The serious sporting events then took place on the lower ovals - junior and senior soccer and rugby league. The competition was fierce. There were no holds barred as the lads threw themselves into the contest, especially the rugby, where bodies were put on the line. But nevertheless it was played in good spirit and sportsmanship. The highlight was the final soccer game between Arthur Rob and McMeckan where a crowd whose size and vocal support eclipsed anything ever seen before on the Soccer Oval urged on Arthur Rob to an exciting victory. McMeckan turned out to be the rugby champions and points were shared evenly in the soccer. Then came the climax to the day's competitions - The Tug O' War. To see the crowds assemble in their house groups, to hear the chanting and yelling and firing up to do battle, one could have been excused for mistaking the scene from the film 'Braveheart'. After much straining and grunting Arthur Rob's superior overall strength eventually prevailed to finish off what was a great afternoon of competition. In the wash up over the weekend McMeckan again proved to be the winners, slightly increasing their lead over School House and Arthur Rob. Cultural activitiesWhile boarders love their Tugs of War and Rugby League there is always much interest and involvement in the broader aesthetic aspects of life on the Hill and at Scotch.
The Middle School Play was a great success held on the 6, 7 and 8 May in the Scout Hall, and John Cooper and Simon Wark of School House had major acting roles. Phillip Tracy did a fine job as 'Front of House' helped by Tom McColl. Phillip also helped Thoraton Supersidi backstage and with set construction. These three lads are all from McMeckan and were a great help to Ms Jones and Mr McWhinney. Barber of SevilleA group of 7 boys enjoyed this entertaining show at the Athenaeum thanks to the thoughtfulness of Neil Roberts who managed to acquire some complimentary tickets and offered them to the Hill. William Shakespeare - abridgedKeiron Jones and Jacqui Gill took a group of boys along to this show which everyone enjoyed very much. 'Rent' / Chinese mealFor an end of term, post exam treat Keiron Jones has organized 40 boys and staff to attend the hit musical 'Rent'. Mr Jim Van Dort, our resident 'ambassador for international understanding' arranged a Chinese banquet for the boys at Kunming Restaurant in Little Bourke Street prior to the show, where some delicious dishes were served up and explained to the boys. School socialsA number of boys have attended socials held at Caulfield and PLC this term. Dancing class
Mrs Cush Phillips and Ms Kate Bergin are very pleased with the way dancing classes have been going this term. You only need to observe the animated looks on the faces of the girls and boys to know they are enjoying themselves and, along the way, they are actually learning to dance as well. Dancing classes continue throughout Term 3 on a Thursday night and finish off with a Dinner Dance at Tudor Court on August 26 to which all parents will be invited. May concert
A number of boys on the Hill learn a musical instrument. This carries on a proud Scotch tradition where approximately one third of all boys learn a musical instrument at any one time. The May Concert was held on Thursday 13 May in the Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University, and as usual was a magnificent evening of high quality music. The following boys were represented Ross McAtamney, Rob Morrison, Arthur Lam, Ed Hope(A.R.H.)Gerry Kwok, Edson Chandrawira,Vorapong Vadhansindhu, Khachornwut Supasiti, Marcus Doherty(School House) Robin Tsui, James Nunn and Tim Grant(MM). Geoffrey ChuSpecial congratulations are in order to Geoffrey Chu in recognition for his magnificent feat in being selected to represent Australia in the World Maths Olympiad to be held in Romania. 4th July dinnerAs part of our ongoing commitment to broaden the boys' cultural and international awareness, Mr Jim van Dort organized a special 4th July American banquet in the Dining Hall. Colin Mason and his staff did a magnificent job serving up such traditional American dishes as 'Corn on the Cob', 'Pork Ribs', Apple Pie followed by a giant cake superbly decorated in the American flag complete with all the stars and stripes. Jess Cadwallender, a Year 9 boarder in McMeckan who has lived in Virginia since the age of 6, talked about how a typical American family enjoyed the 4th July celebrations and John Ronan Year 10, School House, gave us a background on the historical perspective and significance of the event. It certainly was a memorable meal and a very enjoyable evening, and highlighted what a terrific Dining Hall staff we have, ably led by Mr Colin Mason, and of course, Mr Norm Bain our Hall Warden. Colin unfortunately will be leaving us to take up a promotion in Brisbane at the end of term. Visitors to the hillTowards the end of term we farewelled two very popular visitors from the Hill. Mr Tom Fuller who was with us for nearly a year staying in Arthur Rob, comes from Durban in South Africa and was having a break between his secondary and tertiary studies. A terrific all rounder, Tom threw himself into life on the Hill and at Scotch. He loved his sport and outdoor activities, and was also a very accomplished bag pipe player. Mr Ted Lysiak stayed with us for 8 weeks while on a teaching exchange with the Junior School. He arrived from Ohio, USA not knowing a soul, but flung himself into all the activities and loved everything about Scotch and Australia. These two gentlemen were fine ambassadors for their countries and helped to establish a lot of good will and future ties for our boys. Salvation army doorknockFollowing our very successful Red Cross Doorknock we had another very good turn out of boys to assist with an excellent group - the Salvation Army. We feel these community service activities are an important part of the boys' education for life, and all boys are expected to assist in at least one community activity during the year. Gordon Owen lodgeA very successful Boarders Parents' Working Bee was held at the Gordon Owen Lodge near Mansfield on May 29/30. David Knight led a group of 5 enthusiastic parents which included Greg Doherty, Bill Christopherson, John Tushuizan, Ian McAtamney and, of course, Hilton Munro who provided much needed sustenance and refreshments. In spite of the weather a lot of work was done in checking out the water tanks, improving the spouting and flashing over the windows and storing up plenty of firewood for the winter. Much philosophising and problem solving was also done after dinner around the 'pot belly'. Jim van Dort and Hilton Munro led a very successful trip of overseas boys to acquaint them with the Lodge and help them gain more familiarity and confidence with the Australian bush. They followed up with some horse riding at the Watson's on Sunday.
Jonathan StoneJonathan is a resident tutor in McMeckan House. He is currently in the 3rd year of an Arts/Science Course at Melbourne University. However, Jonathan is a magnificent oarsman and is to be congratulated on being selected to represent Australia at the World Rowing Championship in Munich during July in the Men's Lightweight Quad Scull. We are conducting a special fundraising competition to guess the number of 'smarties' in a jar to assist Jonathan in raising funds to attend this event. Link building renovationsRenovations are nearly complete on the Link Building Project. The work has been completed on schedule with the minimum of fuss, and we thank the builders for their thoughtfulness and co-operation. The plan is, by the start of Term 3, to move 10 McMeckan and 10 School House Year 11 into their own separate bed/desk dormitories. |
