OSCA
‘ MAKE YOUR OWN OSCA ’ LUNCH AT KOOYONG
THIRTY OLD BOYS FROM THE SIXTIES GET TOGETHER
LEFT TO RIGHT : DAVID MCDONALD (’ 63 ),
GEOFF METZ (’ 63 ), IAN
MARCHMENT (’ 64 ), DONALD ROBERTSON (’ 64 ), TIM BANKS (’ 63 ),
ANDREW JAMIESON (’ 63 ),
ROSS JOHNSTON (’ 63 ), BRUCE WIDMER (’ 63 ), ALAN LIPSHUT (’ 63 ).
Ian Marchment (’ 64 ) organised an informal lunch at the Kooyong Tennis Club on 25 November , attended by 30 members of the Scotch Classes of 1963 and 1964 . As the fourth such occasion , it was a great example of an informal gathering taking place under a ‘ Make Your Own OSCA ’ initiative , which OSCA actively encourages . At Kooyong , Old Boys were each invited to speak for five minutes on post-school activities . The following five were selected for publication .
Professor Hugh Taylor AC (’ 64 ) set up the University of Melbourne ’ s Indigenous Eye Health Unit in 2008 . While Indigenous children had only one-fifth of the vision problems of non-Indigenous children , over the age of 40 , Indigenous adults had six times as much blindness as non- Indigenous adults . Since 2012 , national eye exam and cataract surgery rates were up more than three times and trachoma rates in the outback dropped from 21 per cent to 3.5 per cent .
Doug Yelland (‘ 63 ) recently published his History of Bribie . During World War II , Bribie Island was the centre of the largest conglomeration of military in the Southern Hemisphere . Doug and Jan were married in the school Chapel in 1969 and he was in Melbourne in November to give his grandson a tour of the school . The first Yelland at Scotch attended the school in 1866 .
Phil Jackson (’ 64 ) became the Australian President of the National Youth Council of Australia . His Scottish great-grandfather , Gideon Rutherford , and the family continued their involvement in the sheep industry in Victoria . One family bought Dagworth station in Queensland where Phil ’ s lineal cousin Christina Rutherford McPherson had composed the famous tune for Waltzing Matilda and Banjo Paterson had written the lyrics . Phil ’ s Irish great-grandfather , John Furphy , designed many agricultural products and John ' s younger brother Joseph Furphy wrote for The Bulletin , and wrote the first great Australian novel Such is Life under the pseudonym of Tom Collins .
Rob Carmichael (‘ 64 ) said it was 60 years since the 1963 1st Crew had won the Head of the River , so it was time to take a closer look at the story behind the Boating Song , the lyrics for which were written by brilliant Scotch student James Burns who in 1914 was School Vice Captain and rowed in the 1st Crew . Burns was killed at Gallipoli in 1915 .
Ian Marchment (’ 64 ) described his recent inspirational ‘ Aussie Camino ’ walk from Portland , Victoria to Penola in South Australia , honouring St Mary MacKillop , and linking the experience to his passion for mentoring . Ian has been running a motivation course and asked his colleagues to think about mentoring , with a handwritten note ( powerful gesture ) offering their time to listen to someone who could benefit from their wisdom and knowledge .
76 Great Scot Issue 168 – May 2023