Scotch College

London Dinner

London's leading Scottish club, The Caledonian, played host to the OSCA London Branch Annual Dinner, held on October 3rd, 2003. Forty-two members of the Scotch Family assembled for what was a very enjoyable evening of camaraderie and reminiscing. We were delighted to welcome special guest, OSCA Executive Director Tim Shearer ('85), who travelled from Melbourne specially for the event.

The Caledonian's resident piper, in full highland dress, played outside the club's Halkin Street entrance and greeted guests with a fine medley of tunes. The unique sound of the bagpipes drifting across the streets of Belgravia also acted as a useful beacon for one or two geographically challenged guests.

The evening began with a drinks reception in one of the club's private lounges, followed by dinner in the Georgian decorative splendour of the Smoking Room. Dinner formalities started with a toast to the School proposed by Talbot Henry ('93). Talbot had been instrumental in getting word of the dinner to many of the early 90s Old Boys.

Tim Shearer, in response to the toast to the School, presented the main address of the evening. Tim gave us an excellent update on recent sporting and academic highlights at Scotch, and reflected on his very busy first year as OSCA Executive Director. Tim closed by saying that the last twelve months had been '...by far the hardest I've ever worked at Scotch!”

It was another good year for the 90s classes with Hayden Lamb ('94), Will Strachan ('92) and former School captain Sam Hume ('94) in attendance, together with Guy Yunghanns ('94), Birmingham resident Max Kitson ('90) and Cameron Stewart ('92) who was down from Sweden for the weekend. Some earlier class years were represented by Ross Anderson ('58), regular guest Gordon Goldberg ('55) and father/son team Chris Knight ('55) and Tim Knight ('83).

Earliest class representative was Bill Meyer ('47) while most recent school leaver was Lachy Armstrong ('95) who had travelled over from Switzerland. Despite a strong turnout from many of the 90s classes, the most represented class year was 1984 with five attendees.

The OSCA London branch, and in particular the annual London dinner, provides an excellent focal point for Scotch Family members based not just in London but all over Britain and Europe. The time and effort that Old Boys make to attend the dinners, the distances many (both young and old) are happy to travel, and the good spirit in which the evenings are taken provide yet more evidence of the continuing strength of the Scotch Family. Long may this tradition continue.

Rod Scott - London Branch President