Scotch College

What they're doing now...

A recent note from Phil Vabre ('82) mentioned "Paul Kelly ('83) has just qualified as an Air Traffic Controller, working for Airservices Australia in the 'Bass' Group (responsible for west and south of Melbourne, and Tasmania). Bass is also my home Group, although I have been working on a project to introduce Australia's new air traffic control system (The Advanced Australian Air Traffic System) for the last 18 months. By a strange twist of fate, Paul was my Platoon Sergeant in Cadets at school and a very efficient one too!

'Incidentally, there seem to be quite a few Old Boys from around our era working in the aviation industry. Steve Flynn ('82) also works for Airservices Australia. Over the years, I have run into Adam Porter ('82) and Angus McNabb ('82) who are both flying for the airlines. And last year I commenced a graduate course at Swinburne University, studying Aviation Human Factors, and one of the other students on the course was Ken Harman ('84) who is an Ansett Airbus A320 Captain'.

On Australia Day John Philip ('42) was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. The citation was "For service to the science of hydrology, to scientific communication in promoting the interests of science in the community, and to Australian culture through architecture and literature."

David Burke ('97) is enjoying a GAP year in the UK at Ardingly College. He has been playing hockey for East Grimstead and Sussex U21s, although a broken collarbone, sustained snowboarding in France, will slow him up for a while.

Rev Dr Norman Pritchard, former School Councillor recently wrote "My son Andrew ('94) is in good form, with his second year at University of Michigan almost completed. I think he finishes at the end of April/early May. Joan and I are both well and very busy and enjoying life to the full. She is coming to the second year at Detroit Country Day School which, despite being a leading private school here, is years behind Scotch in a number of important respects. (They still manage fees of US$14,000 a year - for junior school!!) I'm enjoying church life immensely, although I'm unusually busy at the moment as a search for a fourth pastor and a new Director of Music draw to their final stages and enter the intensive interview stages demanding a great deal of time. But it will be time well spent, I'm sure, and a good investment for the future."

Dick Peel ('49) President of the Lake Boga Lions Club was in the news recently when he organised the landing of an amphibious aircraft on Kangaroo Lake. Dick had been involved with the reconstruction of the World War II bunker at Catalina Park, Lake Boga.

Will McCutcheon ('71) is leaving the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and returning to Parks Victoria in the role of Business Manager in the City and Bays Region.

At last year's Royal Show Ivan Liley ('89) jointly won the Young Rural Citizen Award in the Agricultural Societies of Victoria competition. He and the other winner had also previously won a Rural Finance Scholarship. This helped towards his obtaining his Agricultural Science degree at Melbourne University. He was married earlier this year, and currently farms on his family's cattle and sheep property with his parents Tom and Millicent and his wife Gai.

Bruce McClean ('53) has sent in this photo of fellow club member Ken McDiarmid ('40) who just before Christmas in a finals match stumbled backwards and fell over, but kept playing. Later on that day, back at Scotch, he remarked "my ground strokes were OK but my overheads weren't too good". That night he went to Epworth Hospital and found he had broken bones in both arms!

For 25 years Geoff Mahlook ('61) has been developing his winery 10 kms from Lakes Entrance. With an artistic wife and 8 children to help from time to time, this former School Captain, star cricketer and grape connoisseur, is the perfect host at the Wyanga winery. His luncheons and dinner tours from Lakes Entrance by ferry to Wyanga start on time and finish at your convenience!

Don Cameron ('43) is having a survey of paintings and prints he produced between 1948 and 1998, by way of a selected exhibition to be held at Sandridge Gallery, Port Melbourne. Geoff Walker (ex Scotch staff) will open the show on Friday 26 June

Fourth generation Old Boy Squadron Leader Andrew Grierson ('82) is the operational commander of the Air Force Boeing 707 tanker detachment, operating from Kuwait in support of operation South Watch. He is normally based at Richmond Air Base, NSW, and lives nearby with his wife Lynne and their three children.

The HMAS Manoora Association has recently published a book from a manuscript compiled by the editor of the ship's newspaper during the years 1944/45. Among the crew of approximately 600 on board Manoora there were five Old Boys namely Graeme Nankervis ('39), Phil Thompson ('36), Ean Cumbrae-Stewart ('41), Jack Campbell ('40), John Willson ('37). During these years Manoora operated as a landing ship infantry carrying 25 small landing craft with troops to 8 D Day assault landings in Northern New Guinea, Philippines and Borneo. Members of the 7th and 9th Div AIF and RAAF were taken to the Borneo operations on Manoora. Added to the original manuscript are actual "secret" operational orders of several landings and the story of the tragedy to members of the 2/48 Bn on a training landing exercise prior to Tarakan operation all of which can now be published.

The book is available for $25 or $30 posted with cheque payable to HMAS Manoora Assoc c/o J C Willson, 1/41 Linacre Rd, Hampton 3188. For further information telephone (03) 9598 1990.

Andrew Rogers ('94) is currently doing his 4th year of a combined degree of Science/Engineering at the University of Melbourne, majoring very happily and successfully in Mathematics and Computer Software Engineering respectively.

On starting at the University of Melbourne in 1995, he was invited by two other older ex-Maths and/or Physics Olympians to form a team of three to compete in the South Pacific regional finals of the International Intercollegiate Programming Contest. In both 1995 and 1996 they did extremely well. Then last year they won, which earned them a trip to Atlanta in the USA to represent the University of Melbourne (and the South Pacific region) in the world final. His University of Melbourne team competed against 53 other teams from 20 countries and the Australians came sixth, behind universities from Prague, St Petersburg, Canada, Sweden and MIT. Some teams did not manage to complete the contest!

Peter Cohen ('61) was granted an Order of Australia Medal in the last Australia Day honours list, for services to hockey as a player, coach and administrator. He is rated one of the best ever hockey players to come out of Scotch and played for 16 years as a forward and half-back with Old Scotch from 1961. He was captain-coach of the A1 team in 1970, a team that made its only appearance in the semi-finals at the top level since the early 50s. He gained Victorian selection in 1964 and '65, but withdrew in '65 to concentrate on his legal studies.

Peter was coach of the Victorian Colts side from 1969-'72, winning the title in 1972, and was a state selector for some years. He was President of the Victorian Hockey Association in '75-'76 and of the Australian Hockey Association '93-'96, and is presently a delegate to the International Hockey Federation.

David Sheludko ('97) recently toured the United States with the National Youth Showband, received a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall and played the trumpet before the Davis Cup semi-final. To top it off, he has also won the Young Achiever's Award from the Melbourne Rotary Club.