23 October 2015 & 24 October 2015
The Class of ’75 enjoyed their Forty Year on reunion at Pretoria Boys High School on 23 and 24 October this year.
It is not possible to fully capture the wide kaleidoscope of experiences, reactions and emotions of the 60 odd old-boys and their wives and partners emanating from the 2 days spent at the School in a paragraph or two. It can at best be paraphrased by the comments and observations made in speeches and expressed during conversations.
Stephen Keet: “a wonderful weekend of re-acquaintance, renewal and reminiscence”
Tony Baggott described how, even after 40 years, old friendships were effortlessly rekindled and that although we had all grown and changed, the core character of each person that we remember from 40 years ago was still very evident and unchanged.
AJ Jablonski captured the importance of the 40 years on celebration, in his words: “To me, the real school should not be limited to a bricks and mortar building, a dry institution located somewhere – it is a state of mind. This state of mind is inculcated and regenerated by a group of people who carry the body of reason itself through time, and to a lesser or larger degree – depending on the scholar – pass it on to the next generation.”
The School is as impressive as ever. The grounds and buildings are in great condition. The renovated and expanded school hall is spectacular. The academic, cultural and sporting opportunities presented by the staff for the boys at the School are more varied and extensive than we had in ’75, and the achievements of the boys are still exceptional across all fields of endeavour.
To the question – who are the beneficiaries of the 40 years on reunion activities?
First and most obvious are the Old Boys that savour the memories of friendship, achievement, hardship and fun.
Second are the teachers of yesterday that could join the reunion activities and that are rewarded by the acknowledgement that their efforts and dedication forty years ago are truly appreciated and that they contributed significantly to the lives and successes of each Old Boy.
Third are the teachers of today that, by proxy, receive the thanks and gratitude. We the class of ’75 did in most cases not adequately thank our teachers, in part due to the rush of getting out of school, in part due to the lack of understanding at the time what the 5 years at the School really meant to us. So the teachers of today receive the thanks of the boys of today extrapolated through and by proxy from the class of ’75.
And finally, the boys of today get a glimpse of the significance and timelessness of tradition as well as friendships formed at school.
– Walter Ringlemann – Deputy Head Boy of 1975
