2019 Old Aquinians & Friends Reunion Tour In January 2020 the Foundation and the College were delighted to welcome back the Old Aquinians & Friends Reunion Tour group for their annual thank you luncheon in the Waterford Room. Dick Nulsen (’54) presented Principal David McFadden with a cheque for $5,120 for the Foundation’s Bursary Fund, the proceeds of their 2019 bus tour. David thanked the group for their significant and ongoing support of Aquinas College, which has contributed more than $57,000 to the Aquinas College Bursary Program over the past fourteen years. The 14th annual Old Aquinians & Friends Reunion Tour, conducted during October 2019, saw a healthy contingent
of 45 Old Aquinians and friends take part. The idyllic Esperance was the ultimate destination. The itinerary was devised by the tour group’s local Esperance resident, Dick Nulsen, with input from Terry Young (‘54) and Brian Kirkwood (‘59). Stops along the way included a visit to the Williams Woolshed, Wagin’s Giant Ram, and for a lunch consisting of yabbies at Kukerin. Whilst in Esperance, the group enjoyed visiting Esperance Stonehenge (a full-sized replica of England’s Stonehenge), the picturesque Cape Le Grand National Park, the beautiful Lucky Bay and the Esperance Museum - which displays many components of the infamous Skylab that crashed to earth nearby in
1979. The return journey included stops at Ravensthorpe to see the world’s biggest lollipop on a 7.5-metre structure, and Hyden to visit the famous Wave Rock. As per usual, the annual tour auction was the main source of funds raised for the Foundation, with all items donated by tour members. Additional monies were also received from surplus tour fees and a number of generous donations. Plans for the 15th Old Aquinians & Friends Reunion Tour, which was to take place in the beautiful Margaret River Region in October 2020, were postponed due to Covid-19. Anyone interested in joining this intrepid group’s 2021 tour should contact Jack Bana (‘54) on 9275 2883 or j.bana@bigpond.net.au.
1959 Reunion A regular down south ‘get together’ was held this year at Xanadu Winery by a few of the old boys from Leaving Year 1959. Gerry McGarry Jnr told the story of the boys leaving school on the last day of the year (and were not returning the next year) – ‘whilst riding their bikes out the front gate they would throw all their Aquinas belongings in the bush’. 21 / the fish
