Archive for the ‘Reunions’ Category
We are organising next years Country Reunion early. We have decided that the Reunion will next year be in Rotorua, and we have plans afoot to make it the biggest Reunion yet. We have a target in mind of having 80 attend this Reunion. This year, we have just had 50 attend the Tauranga Reunion. Anyway, the first two items that need to be sorted are:
1. Locating Old Boys who live in Rotorua – who will work with us to organise the Reunion.
2. Selecting a date for the Reunion. We think it will need to be some time in August again, or perhaps in September. If it is too early in the year this impacts the AGM and Foundays Day Weekend at the School which always coiincides with the annual Auckland Reunion. We will also discuss this with the School and Trust Board to see what dates might fit in with their Event Calendar.
So please contact Mark Easton on mark@azurebell.co.nz or 07 5787883 if you live in Rotorua. We need to know who you are so that you can be involved, early, in the planning process.
There are some great activities at Rotorua – for example my partner, Marina, worked at Polynesian Spa for 5 years so we are well in there to get some great deals.
We will be looking at bringing a bus down from Auckland, leaving from Dilworth, on the Friday and returning back to Auckland on Sunday. As much as possible we want to expand the involvement of younger Old Boys in these Country Reunions and as such will take steps to ensure the weekend is affordable.
Any comments on this are welcomed.
To Old Boys attending the Country Reunion – we have Derek and Maxine Firth attending only on the Friday night. Errol and Lynette Lee, Donald MacLean and Peter Voss, Adam Hiron, and Doug StGeorge amongst many others will also be attending. We are, though, down on numbers for the Friday night event as many are coming up on Saturday.
So, if you can make it for the Friday night event then please do so – we would appreciate that. We have secured an excellent venue with the Mount Ocean Sports Club and are supplying Finger Food. We will have some cold platters out at 6pm and then some hot platters will come out later in the evening.
The night can go on to late – so even if you only arrive at 9pm we will still be going.
Although I will be there from 6pm, ready for the early arrivers (and if you do want to come down then and keep me company then that will be great), I believe many will start arriving from 7pm onwards.
Mt Maunganui - The Beach
The Country Reunion this year is at The Mount on Friday August 13 to Sunday August 15. Please contact Adam or Mark now (contact details below) if you would like to attend the reunion, so that we can finalise restaurant, accommodation and activity bookings. It promises to be an excellent weekend with a great array of activities and events to keep you all very happy. Full and current details of the Country Reunion are here.
See who is attending here.
There are plenty of accommodation options and with a Friday Meet & Greet at the Mount Ocean Sports Club (overlooking the water), a Saturday Night out at The Astrolabe and a Country Breakfast on a farm on Sunday Morning, along with an array of ativities organised on Saturday, it promises to be a special weekend.
We have finalised a set of activities for Saturday. For full details see here.
Event Contacts:
Dr George Barker - Guest Speaker
Saturday March 13th 7pm – the Reunion Dinner.
What a great night it was.
It was incredible to see Old Boys from all eras in attendance including a table of the youngest Old Boys – and as Dilworth Old Boys tend to do – we all got on incredibly well.
After a rousing introduction by brother, Bill Barker, Guest Speaker Dr George Barker talked eloquently and with great passion about the clauses in James Dilworth’s will and how they modeled his and our lives as “good and useful citizens”.
George was clearly greatly honored to be our first Guest Speaker at what we hope to be an annual event moving forward and at times had trouble containing his emotion which left us all with lumps in our throats.
Dilworth means so much to George and to all of us!
We will be producing a full transcript of George’s talk – so when that comes to hand it will be posted on the Website.
DOBA Vice President Peter Tate, as master of ceremonies, was in great form and kept things well organized as well as keeping us laughing.
We did not know you had this talent Mr Tate!
The food and wine, supplied by Robert MacDonald was exemplary – plentiful and better than restaurant quality – just amazing.
Many thanks Robert!
The waiting staff also were really great – thanks Elena and others for looking after us so well!
Some of the names there on the night (in no particular order) are listed here. We will endeavor to provide a complete list of names soon.
Principle and Vice Patron Donald MacLean, Trustee John Wain, Past Chairman John Potter and wife Alison, Murray Wilton (former Principle, Old Boy and Patron) and wife Christine, Chairman of the Trust Board Derek Firth and wife Maxine, Vice Patron Bruce Owen, Past President Peter Thompson, Dr George Barker (Guest Speaker) and wife Jo, Maurice Hood, Ian West, Kerry Pascoe, Roger Pym, David Bennett, Peter Hargraves, Frank Bull, Dave Winter, Trevor McCauley, Emerson Coe, Tana Faamausili, Ethan Hindman, Matt Saunderson, Damon Scmidt, Daniel Priest, Greg Tothill, Tapu Vea, Jonathan Whittingham, Ricky Mossman
Life Members; John Simpson, Stan West, Roger Pye and wife Annette, Bill Barker
Council Members; Adam Hiron (President), Grant Steel (Treasurer), Jacob De Berry, Theo Davy and daughter, Callum McGibbon, Mark Easton (Web Master), Peter Tate (Vice President and M.C for the night), Julian Annear, Chris Hodder (Secretary)
Congratulations to all of you that attended – you made it a night to remember.
Here is the official Founders Weekend Invitation from the School to Dilworth Old Boys, starting on Friday 12th March at 9:00am with the Founders Day Service with Guest Speaker Rt Hon John Key.
The invitation includes a request to RSVP to Principal’s PA Mrs Jenny Reeves.
Please download the invitation to get full details.
Please also note that the Founders Day Chapel service is on Sunday 14th March at 8pm.
There has been some conflicting info sent out on this, but it does start at 8pm!
Can you please RSVP your wish to attend the Reunion Dinner (featuring guest speaker Dr George Barker and following the AGM at 5:30pm) at the School Dining Room to Chris Hodder at chis.hodder@gmail.com. We would like to firm numbers with the school asap, so thank-you for your cooperation in this.
You can also pay for your seat(s) now, by Credit Card or from your PayPal a/c if you have one, using PayPal ($60):
Dr George Barker - Reunion Dinner Speaker March 13th
Reunion Dinner Saturday March 13th, 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start at the School Dining Room. Follows the AGM (Rec Centre) at 5:30pm. Tickets available now – please see below to pay by PayPal. Please contact Chris Hodder at chris.hodder@gmail.com to reserve your seat(s).
We are delighted to announce that Dr George Barker (BA, MA (Hons), LLB, DPhil) will be speaking at the Reunion Dinner. George left Dilworth mid-1975 (in his second year as Head Prefect) on winning a UWC Scholarship to study at Pearson College in Canada for 2 years – where of all people Murray Wilton turned up as a French teacher! A top sportsman, academic and a leader at the School George has gone on to lead a successful and distinguished career. He is also a Dio Old Girl and continues that association today – but more on that, no doubt, on the night!
George is Director of the Centre for Law and Economics at the Australian National University and is President of the Australian Law and Economics Association. He was awarded the Olin Fellowship in Law and Economics at Cornell University in 2000. He gained a PhD in Economics from Oxford University 1992, and earned both a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Economics at Auckland where he won the senior prize in economics . George has authored books and articles on a wide range of matters from the Effects of China joining the WTO (Cambridge University Press 2003), through the economics of energy, communication, media and cultural industries to social policy, including education, health, welfare and the criminal justice system. He is also the editor of Asia Pacific Law and Economics Review (Berkeley Electronic Press), and on the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Law and Economics.
After finishing his masters at Auckland George went to work at the New Zealand Treasury and became chief analyst under the Lange Labour Government in the mid 1980’s (returned to Treasury again from 1992-1997). After his 80’s Treasury stint he won a National Research Advisory Council Scholarship and completed a doctorate of economics at Oxford University. During his time at Oxford he was elected onto the Governing Body of Wolfson College.
George continues to advise a wide range of public- and private-sector clients on regulatory, public policy, microeconomic, financial management and corporate strategy issues. He has testified in the Asia Pacific Region before Australian, Korean, Canadian and New Zealand and in European agencies on market design, regulatory policy, competition policy and intellectual property. Thus on the latter he provided the economic testimony in one of the two major Global cases on music piracy or illegal downloading in the KAZAA case.
So a very interesting Old Boy (with a huge resume that we could not do justice to in these few paragraphs) who has made the most of his Dilworth upbringing to be a leader of men. We are all looking forward to hear George speak at the Reunion Dinner.
Pay and reserve your Reunion Dinner seat now using PayPal ($60):
Mount Maunganui
We are happy to announce that the Country Reunion this year will be at the Mount on Friday August 13 to Sunday August 15. Please contact Adam or Mark (see our details below) if you are intending to attending the reunion. We will need to firm the numbers attending prior to the end of July for the various bookings we are making for the weekend.
What can we tell you so far? Well, dinner on Saturaday night will be at the Astrolabe right in the centre of the Mount. We have already spoken to Chris from Astrolabe and he has us “inked” in. He asks that David Newcombe attend as he would like to catch up with you. Seems everyone knows some great guy from Dilworth!
For the morning tea on Sunday we would like a nice venue at which we can all relax (rain or shine) and ease out of the weekend. Anyway, we will look at all options and make a decision on the best option as the weekend draws closer.
Adam Hiron and myself (Mark Easton) are the organisers of the weekend. Please contact us as follows:
- Adam – adam.hiron@gmail.com
- Mark – mark@azurebell.co.nz or 0275 757 409
For further details please look here.
Dilworth School
Founders Day Weekend will be held from Friday March 12th until Sunday March 14th. The Summer Sports with be held on Friday 13th March and the AGM and Reunion Dinner will be on Saturday 13th March. The AGM will be at 5:30pm and this will be followed by the Reunion Dinner (a 3 course smorgasbord) at 6:30pm for a 7pm start. So, now is the time to block those dates and times into your calendars!
Pay now for dinner (using the PayPal button below) and get your seat booked for the Reunion Dinner. Seats cost $60.
At 9:15am on Friday the 12th will be the Founders Assembly at which the Prime Minister will be speaking. Old Boys are encouraged to attend and hear this address in the School Hall.
On Sunday March 14th there will be the Founders Day Chapel service which Old Boys are always welcome and in fact encouraged to attend. We will post further details as they come to hand.
Pay and reserve your Reunion Dinner seat now using PayPal ($60):
