Kearsney College Old Boys Club KEARSNEY COLLEGEOLD BOYS' EXECUTIVE 1993 PRESIDENT: L.F.Buys VICE PRESIDENT: D.Clark TREASURER: G.Brown SECRETARY: S.P. du Toit COMMITTEE: T.Prankish H.Hewlett I.G.I. Maclaine R.D. Nathan S.W. Stott P.V. Veldman J.M. Wallace EX OFFICIO: A.Ross (Chairman-Durban Branch) J.A. Bester (Chairman-Cape Town Branch) D.G.Gardner (Chairman-Pietermaritzburg Branch) J. Hughes (Chairman-Zululand Branch) J. Panton (Chairman-London Branch) L.Polkinghome (Whippets) T. Chick (250 Club) B.C.Smith (Representative on Board of Governors) O.Roberts (Headmaster) R.Blamey (Deputy Headmaster) D.B.Pithey (School Liaison Officer) Helen Gammie (Parents Society Representative) FOUNDER'S DAYAND65TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 14AUGUST1993-PRESIDENT'SREPORT Gentlemen I have pleasure in presenting my report for the past year. At the beginning of the year of office the Executive set out, as an overall aim,to make the Old Boys' Club more meaningful and purposeful to the entire Kearsney com munity in general and to Old Boys and school leavers in particular. In doing so, it has endeavoured to improve the communication between itself and the Kearsney commu nity, namely the Board,the school(both staff and pupils), the Parents Society,the Greyhound Club and,by no means least,the Old Boysthemselves.I believe that we have suc ceeded in this overall aim notably, hut not exclusively, in the following areas: I. The Parents'Society is a vibrantforce within thecom munity and we are represented on their committee and they are now represented on ours.In addition, we have become involved with them in certain joint ventures suchas the Business Digest. Many of you will shortly be hearing from Helen Gammie,Chairlady ofthe Par ents' Society, with regard to advertising in the Busi ness Digest and I would ask that you all endeavour to support this venture, which can only be ofgreat bene fit to the entire Kearsney community. 2. We work closely with the school in certain areas and have also endeavoured to improve the school's per ception of us by improving communication with the staff members themselves. 3. We have attimes been ofassistance to the school where certain problems have presented themselves which the school has believed could be resolved by the holding ofdiscussions between ourselves and certain pupils. 4. We enjoy a close working relationship with the Board where we are extensively represented and are assist ing also at sub-committee level. 5. Perhapsthe mostsignificant step taken during the year has been the opening of an office in the Greyhound Pavilion which we at present share with the GreyhoundClub and, to a lesser extent, the Parents' Society. I have no doubt that this facility will play a major role in the development in the Old Boys' Club both in the short and long term. 6. Our communication with Old Boys has also been im proved greatly by the creation of the "Whippets", a sub section hut dependent part ofthe Club created for young Old Boys who have recently leftthe school.We are greatly indebted to the work of Lawrence Polkinghome in this regard and look forward to see ing the results of the momentum started by these im portant members of the Club.The"Whippets"is also being utilised to identify suitable school leavers who can play a role in perpetuating an interest in the Old Boys' Club at both branch and executive level. I have no doubt that the heart of the Old Boys' Club re mainsthe respective branches and that everything must be done at Executive level to assist and ensure that the branches are vibrant and pro-active, if we are able to cre ate overwhelming interest at this level, the future of the Old Boys'Club can never be in jeopardy. In this regard, we are fortunate that all the branches appear to be increas ingly well supported with perhaps Durban,Johannesburg and, notably, the United Kingdom being the most active. You will be interested to know that we are in the process of starting a new branch in Australasia. The success ofthe school's marketing programme has been plainly evidentfor all observers to see.I cannot,however, emphasise enough whatan importantrole the branches and all individual Old Boys have in this regard and would ask that a conscious effort be made by every Old Boy to iden tify successful youngsters at primary schools whereverthey may be, who are likely to fit in with the Kearsney ethos, and to contact David Pithey with a view to putting the school in touch with the parents ofsuch children. I would mention that for the last six years the Executive have adopted a policy ofnofund-raising. Unfortunately,if Kearsney Old Boys wish to play a role comparable to the Old Boys ofour competitors,fund-raising will become an importantfeature overthe nextfew years.In the shortterm, we have been asked to repair and upgrade the Old Boys' Memorial Pavilion overlooking the Oval as a matter of urgency and you will shortly he hearing from us in this 100
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