TOBA) President’s Report

This year we celebrated 50 years of Trinity College and through the assistance of the Trinity Old Boys’ Association the Trinity Spirit continues to grow and thrive.

Mr Darren Taggart (’83) President Trinity Old Boys’ Association

As President of the association, this year I have seen a lot of development with TOBA, welcoming our new members from the Class of ’12 and continuing celebrations with Old Boys and friends of the wider Trinity College community.

The new upgraded TOBA website www.toba.net.au was implemented in September and will act as our general public enquiries platform whilst allowing Old Boys to link from the website to the TOBA members area. TOBA actively participates in all social media including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram and links to these can also be found on www.toba.net.au. This not only keeps Old Boys updated on events and what’s going on within our community, but also allows for instantaneous interaction amongst past students. Thank you to Paul Abrahams (‘95), Heath Properjohn and Damian Katich (‘95) of Loaded Communications and all from the Class of ‘95 for their efforts in re-designing; they have been a wonderful support to the association for many years now. For Trinity College’s 50th year a grand reunion saw over 500 Old Boys from many generations in attendance at RICKATACKA! 2012 held on campus on 22 September. All came with pride and fond memories of their time at Trinity, taking great pleasure in seeing old classmates, Christian Brothers and teachers. A mix of classic covers performed by the TOBA All Stars Band brought people onto the dance floor, their set ending with a rousing rendition of In Nomine Domini that included the voices of every Old Boy in attendance, as did the singing of Happy Birthday when Brother Kelly’s 92nd birthday, which fell on the same evening, was celebrated with a cake. Several of the Christian Brothers were interviewed by past Headmaster Tony Curtis (’56) with stories of CBC Perth and Trinity College being shared.

Three Honour Boards dedicated to Old Boys who were either killed in action or remain missing in action were proudly presented by TOBA to Trinity. Gibney Hall was filled with silence in acknowledgement of fellow Old Boys who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. These Honour Boards will be mounted in the Chapel for all to see. The association is indebted to the hard work and commitment of Vice-President Terry Jones (‘70), committeeman John Hansen (‘56) and Mrs Robyn Jennison who is a stalwart of Trinity College. LEST WE FORGET!

TOBA continues to play a major part in the day to day life of Trinity and the wider community, hosting an array of reunions throughout the year, with many classes choosing to celebrate their reunion at RICKATACKA! 2012. One of these was the Class of ’85 led by their Head Boy Anthony Battaglia (’85). They were seen waving their ’85 flag before it mysteriously disappeared, rumoured to be held hostage by the Class of ‘89! No ransom note has yet been received. Stay tuned for further developments.

TOBA President’s Report

In December 2012, TOBA hosted the inaugural Sydney interstate reunion and the second Melbourne reunion for Old Boys who are currently living or visiting in those areas. The events were highly successful.

The Golden Heritage Club is an exclusive group of Old Boys who graduated from Trinity College/CBC Perth 50 or more years ago. The most recent event held by our proud Golden Heritage Club was a tour of the CBC icons scattered throughout the Trinity College campus. My thanks go to our tour guides Ray Kosovich (‘76) and Tony Maxfield (’79).

Our TOBA Winter Sports Day was again a major success and very well patronised. This event sees Old Boys and current Trinity students competing in rugby, football, soccer, hockey and cross-country with the winner of the majority of these sports claiming the much coveted Brendan Ryan (’91) Cup. The current Trinity students were overall winners.

This year we hosted our very first TOBA Summer Sports Day, which included cricket, rowing, water polo, basketball, volleyball and tennis. Given the high calibre of sportsmen who have represented Trinity in their chosen sport and later at elite levels, deciding on the names of the trophies for the individual sports was not an easy task. After much deliberation the individual summer sport trophies were named in honour of the following Old Boys:

Cricket Rowing Water Polo Basketball Volleyball Tennis Simon Katich (‘92) Ben Cureton (‘98) Antony Matkovich (‘94) Joel Wagner (‘04) Andrew Lillywhite (‘08) Phil Hinton (‘84)

The trophy for the overall winner was named after our current Director of Sport, Steve Leahy (‘78), a worthy recipient.

For me, attending the Junior School Assembly on the last Friday of each month to present the TOBA Presidents Award for Trinity College Spirit is always a pleasure.

This award is presented to a Junior School student who displays the qualities that best represent the famous Trinity Spirit in the areas of academics, sport, music, faith and social activities. I extend my congratulations to all 2012 winners and look forward to continuing with the presentation of this award in 2013. I would like to thank Mark Hackett (‘75) and his staff for their kind support and invitation to TOBA to become involved as much as possible in the life of the Junior School. Being involved

Golden Heritage Club gathering; John Goodman (‘55) with Marcus Duncan (6G)

40 Year Reunion Class of 1972

in the Executive Committee for as long as I have has afforded me the great privilege and pleasure to see students arrive at Trinity as wide-eyed Year 4 students then nine years later graduate in Year 12 and join us as proud members of TOBA.

On 25 October at the TOBA Graduation Breakfast, in a tradition that celebrates the graduation from Trinity student to proud member of TOBA, the Class of ’12 exchanged their Trinity College ties for their TOBA ties. In a memorable speech that captured his fond experiences at Trinity College, guest speaker Michael Anghie (’87), Managing Partner of Ernst & Young’s Western Region and Business Unit Director for its Transaction Advisory Services businesses, addressed the crowd of students, staff, friends and family. Following Assembly, the Class of ’12 performed the famous Trinity College Rumble in Centenary Park, a tradition that has been occurring for many years! There is never a dry eye amongst the parents on seeing their sons perform the Rumble for the last time as a student.

More recently, TOBA hosted a Sundowner in the new staff lounge at Trinity. This event was to thank all who have participated, helped and supported the association throughout the year. Drinks, food, music and laughs were shared by a group of over 100 attendees on a lovely summer afternoon, extending into the evening in typical TOBA fashion; when is a function finish time not really a finish time? When it’s a TOBA function!

The strength of TOBA has been established through the hard work of the TOBA Executive Committee and in particular our Executive Officer, Ms Diane Millar. I would like to thank each of these individuals for their dedication and contribution to the association. It is this body of people who uphold TOBA’s mission: to continue the Trinity Spirit beyond graduation, and I am grateful for their valuable work.

The Trinity Old Boys’ Association is a legally incorporated entity in its own right; however, to run the association merely as a business would only serve to cheapen its true value. We should never lose sight of our core values and the reason for our existence. We are in the business of people! Whilst any organisation needs to ensure it correctly crosses the T’s and dots the I’s, the main focus of TOBA must be continuing to develop strong bonds between our members and our future members – today’s current student body – and between TOBA and Trinity College. We all need to be ever vigilant and guard against losing sight of our goals. Our business is in promoting camaraderie amongst our membership and providing support, assistance and protection to Trinity College by whatever means possible, according to our motto Keeping the Spirit Alive.

I am proud to be the President of such a tremendous and spirited community, wearing my Trinity Spirit with pride. I look forward to another year full of exciting events and great company!

Brendan Ryan (‘91) with mate Troy Zafer (‘91) at the TOBA Winter Sports Day

CBC Reunion, Rex McGrade (‘50), Gordon Pearce (‘52) and John Parker (‘50)

Teacher, Kathryn Down with 2012 Graduates, Jack Cleary, Mitchell Bell and Alex Ridley