PBHSOB ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
Dear Old Boy
2023 REUNIONS
With less than two months to go to the first reunion of 2023, we are finalising the preparations for the 60 Year On Reunion taking place on Friday, 19 May 2023.
Please check the reunion dates hereunder and if you have not yet heard from a convenor from your matric year please contact info@pbhsob.com to register.
60 Year On, the Class of 1963
The convenor is Louis von Broembsen who is being assisted by Dr Pieter Grey. The reunion will take place on Friday, 19 May 2023 and the group will enjoy a day at Pretoria Boys High School. The group has been networking among the Class of 1963 and their preparations are now at an advanced stage. We are looking forward to meeting them and spending the day together, starting with tea on the Solomon House lawn and ending with a sherry at the West Norfolk Pine whilst a school bugler plays the Last Post at 17:30.
From The Pretorian, The Annual Magazine of The Pretoria Boys’ High School – Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-Three:
A WORD FROM THE HEADMASTER, page 2: “Modernisation of the School. As you know the school is in the process of being modernised; this may perturb you when you think of the end result of the modernisation of music, singing, dancing, dress and hairstyles, etc. Don’t worry: The architect is an Old Boy of the school and one who is conscious of its beauty; the Chief Inspector of Works, Mr Kaiser is as good a friend as we could wish to have. These men will protect us from anything shoddy or unworthy. The dignified and attractive school building will look no different from outside. Inside it will be much improved; a handsome hall will hold the whole school for assembly and this will be a blessing; we shall have a modern well equipped library on the ground floor; there will be two new art rooms and a special purpose room designed for the use of the projector which is such a valuable part of teaching equipment; there will be a new prefects’ room equipped with cupboards and shelves, a sick bay for the boy who needs some care, and adequate toilet facilities for staff and boys. The three Houses are also included in the programme and will gain new and more spacious dormitories, modern and well-equipped kitchen and better accommodation for our assistant masters and matrons. We shall be so happy when it is all over!”
Other Reunion Dates:
The 20 Year On Reunion takes place on Saturday, 22 July 2023 and the convenor is Doug Saxby.
The 10 Year On Reunion takes place on Saturday, 12 August 2023 and the convenor is Connor Henry.
The 50 Year On Reunion takes place on Friday and Saturday, 25 & 26 August 2023 and the convenor is Eric Johnson.
The 30 Year On Reunion takes place on Friday and Saturday, 8 & 9 September 2023 and the convenor is Gregory Fisher.
The 40 Year On Reunion takes place on Friday and Saturday, 27 & 28 October 2023 and the convenor is Dave Gleeson.
OLD BOYS DINNER
The 2023 annual Old Boys Dinner is traditionally held on the first Saturday of June every year and this year is no different – the 104th Old Boys Dinner is taking place on Saturday, 3 June 2023.
The dinner will be held at the Dining Hall, Pretoria Boys High School at 19:00 and the dress code for Old Boys and guests is black tie or a dark suit.
The guest speaker for the occasion is Pieter du Toit, well known journalist and author of inter alia The Stellenbosch Mafia (2019) and The ANC Billionaires (2022).
PBHS Headmaster Greg Hassenkamp, former Headmaster Bill Schroder, Second Master John Illsley and Association Chairman Jason Webber will be among the invited guests.
Don’t miss out on catching up with school friends, hearing the latest PBHS news from the Headmaster, a delicious three course meal, and refreshments from the Old Boys Club, all for R500 per person. The school will be hosting Jeppe for winter sports over that weekend.
Ticket sales will open on 14 April 2023 via AlumNet and the convenor is PBHS Old Boy and PBHSOB Association Director Geoff Meyer.
BRANCH VISITS
Eastern and Southern Cape Old Boys Branch Dinner
Article & Photos – Alan MacKenzie (EC)
The 13th Eastern and Southern Cape Old Boys Branch Dinner took place in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) on Friday 03 March 2023.
PBHS Headmaster Mr Greg Hassenkamp and old boy Geoff Meyer, who is not a stranger to the chaps in PE, flew down on Friday afternoon, arriving in a very bustling PE due to it coinciding with the Iron Man Weekend.
Proceedings were started with a welcome by Alan MacKenzie (Class of 1981), at which point the formalities ended and Mr H became Greg. The welcome was followed by an opening prayer, adapted and presented by Anthony Marks (Class of 1986) from the School Prayer we all knew so well during our days on the hill.
Following the prayer, Greg was introduced by Duncan Stewart (1989) who had also captained the ’89 3rd rugby team.
After some hostel banter and a bit of chirp from the floor (it would not be a true reflection of our schooling if this did not take place), Greg gave a brief description of his time at the school and career path that brought him to the place of applying, and finally being appointed, as the current Headmaster of this fine school.
The main course was served and the atmosphere continued to build, old friendships and new acquaintances being enjoyed as boys at heart reveled in the opportunity to reminisce and share their experiences of years gone by.
With the plates all cleaned and cutlery removed, it was time for Greg to share an update of where the school is, and what his vision is for the future. If a title could be given to Greg’s address, then it would surely be ‘The Challenges of a Traditional School in a Modern World’.
To convey the content would take more than a few lines of text, but all we can attest to is that while Mr Greg Hassenkamp is holding the reigns, OUR SCHOOL IS IN EXCELLENT HANDS!!
As a branch in the rebuilding phase we felt it necessary to make a few special awards, creating a bit of rivalry, but also highlighting the efforts of those who responded to the call and attended.
A special mention must be made of our youngest member on the night, Frank (Barris) Miles, who was part of the class of 2020. Barris, of Queenstown farming stock, is currently working construction in the Coffee Bay / Hole In The Wall area and made great effort to travel back for the dinner. Unfortunately, he was surrounded by old, grey haired and balding men with middle age spreads, but we’re trusting to attract more of his age group, made up of students at Rhodes and NMMU, to future events.
Barris was awarded the prize for the youngest OB at the dinner, a golden pinecone mounted on a candy-stripped stick.
The prize for the House best represented was an even tie between Rissik and Arcadia. However, our Gauteng guest, Geoff Meyer, tipped the scales in favour of Arcadia who eventually took the floating trophy, a green pinecone.
The prize for the Year best represented went to the class of ’81, who took home the floating trophy, a red pinecone.
Don’t miss out on a Branch visit in your area. The following are planned:
Tzaneen, Limpopo – Tuesday, 23 May 2023
White River, Mpumalanga – Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Cape Town, Western Cape – Wednesday, 2 August 2023
Johannesburg, Gauteng – Thursday, 2 November 2023
The Old Boys Association is hoping to add Bloemfontein and Knysna to our schedule of branch visits in 2024. If you are willing to start reaching out to old boys in those areas, please contact the Association office.
OLD BOYS’ NEWS
PBHS Old Boy Gerard Labuschagne (1989, School House) recently donated copies of his two books The Profiler Diaries and The Profiler Diaries 2 to the Bill Schroder Centre at Pretoria Boys High School.
Professor Labuschagne is currently a director at L&S Threat Management, South Africa’s first sole-purpose threat assessment and management company focussing on behavioural analysis and violence, extortion and threats.
Before taking up this position in 2016, he was the Section Head of the South African Police Service’s Investigative Psychology Unit for over 14 years.
Gerard is a clinical psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the British Psychological Society, and a Criminologist and an Advocate of the High Court (non-practicing). He appears regularly in the High Court and lower courts as an expert witness in criminal cases, having testified over 110 times in South African courts, often giving evidence about case linkage in serial offender trials, criminal capacity to stand trial hearings or sentencing of offenders.
In his dedication in the books donated, he wrote: “To Pretoria Boys High, thank you for helping shape me into the person I am now”.
The books are now on a shelf dedicated to authors who attended the school.
CRICKET NEWS
We all know that two of former Headmaster Bill Schroder’s passions are PBHS and cricket. Mr Schroder kindly agreed to put pen to paper and update us on Old Boys excelling on the cricket pitch.
“During my early days as Headmaster (early 90’s) I was often told about the great decade (the 1960’s) when Boys High produced four Springbok cricketers, namely Eddie Barlow (1961-1970), Jackie Botten (1965), Syd Burke (1964) and Glen Hall (1967). There were also a number of Old Boys playing First Class Cricket who were on the fringe of national selection during that period. Of these Eddie Barlow was the best known and was viewed as one of the best all-rounders in the world. The number of Tests played was limited for South Africans as we only played against England, Australia and New Zealand.
What made me write about the above, was the realization that Boys High Old Boys have done it again, namely produced a further four international cricketers in the period 2011 to the present. I am certainly not going to compare these two groups. As already mentioned, test cricket was fairly limited and there were no One Day Internationals and no T20 games in the 60’s.
Chris Morris and Simon Harmer began their international careers for the Proteas (no longer Springboks), in 2013 and 2015 respectively, Chris in one day internationals and Simon in the Test Team. These two were followed by Stephan Myburgh who was a regular member of the Netherlands One Day and T20 side from 2011 to 2022. Chris’s career was stellar, particularly in the white ball game (he did play four Tests) with 42 ODI’s, 23 T20’s and 81 IPL’s, retiring in2019. He is now a most accomplished commentator and analyst. Simon’s career took a different turn, after playing a number of tests, he lost favour with the selectors so decided to ply his trade with Essex as a Kolpack player and becoming one of the leading off spin bowlers in County Cricket. He returned home in 2021 and after eight years is currently back in the Proteas Test team together with Aiden Markram.
The youngest member of the foursome, Aiden Markram, aged 28, is already a seasoned cricketer in all formats of the game with 35 Tests, 47 ODI’s, and a brace of T20’s for South Africa, IPL and the recent SA20. His leadership ability was recognised in his captaining the winning SA20 side, his being selected to captain the Sunrisers in the IPL and most recently his appointment as captain of the South African T20 side. We shall all follow his career with great interest and no doubt much pride and excitement.
One can’t help wondering what our foursome of the 60’s may have achieved with the same opportunities as our foursome of the 2010’s and beyond. We are certainly proud of them all”. Bill Schroder
DEVELOPING TOMORROW’S LEADERS TODAY – A fundraising campaign
Dear Old Boy
It is with pleasure that I am able to give an update of the state of the Pretorian Trust’s fundraising campaign “Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today” as of the 16th of March 2023, 15 months into the campaign.
Paid-up Pledges – R3.48m
Signed Pledges – R2.50m (Firm commitments but not paid yet)
Transferred to PBHS – R0.68m (For the current Bursary Fund)
On-going Pledges & debit orders – R1.07m
TOTAL – R7.73m
The money invested in the Trust’s long-term growth-oriented portfolio has grown to R5,185 million as of 28th February 2023. Shortly, a further R1,5 million will be added to this investment.
PBHS currently has 60 boys on bursaries for various amounts to the value of R5.5million.
A worrying statistic is that all the above (with the exception of the contributors to the current bursaries) is from a mere 110 donors. Roughly the same number have responded positively but with no commitment or have indicated their inability to support the campaign because of understandable financial difficulties. All this together represents about a 10% return on the direct engagements I have had under the campaign thus far.
There is a strong perception that a campaign of this nature is aimed at those who are able to make significant contributions. This is definitely not the case as on-going pledges and debit orders, no matter how small, contribute to the long-term sustainability of the Trust which is essential in making this campaign a success. What I am trying to convey is better said in the words of Edmund Burke (1729 -1797) philosopher, economist and statesman: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little”.
Best regards
Bill
CORRESPONDENCE FROM OLD BOYS
Letter and photo received from PBHS Old Boy Jacques Ehlers (2010, Arcadia)
Dear PBHSOB Association
I was fortunate enough to be part of the School on the Hill and matriculated in 2010 and, even though I am still young, I have managed to find my dream job in the Midlands in the Michaelhouse Finance Department – a school I have always held in high regard.
Very well-known within the education sector in South Africa and abroad, Michaelhouse is honestly one of the nicest places to work as it runs on a level that I could never imagine and with a Christian-based ethos and the drive and passion all staff have to work here, it is seriously an amazing place to come into every day and provide a service for.
However, I proudly still wear my Old Boys tie every Friday and still keep tabs on what my alumni are up to through Social Media, PBHSOB newsletters and keeping in contact with staff still there. I also hope that one day, if I am blessed with a son, that he would want to follow in my footsteps of becoming a Boys High Boy.
To remind me of the privilege I had to go to PBHS and the honour of working at the school I now work at, I keep my PBHS bear with me in my office (who I have dubbed my own “Danny Boy”) who looks out of my office daily at the wonderful rolling hills of the Midlands and the well-manicured gardens of Michaelhouse (picture attached).
Jacques Ehlers (2010)
SECOND TERM SPORTS FIXTURES
Old Boys are always welcome to support the boys and to help you plan your weekends during the second term, here are the sports fixtures from 15 April to 10 June 2023.
Saturday 15 April vs KES (away)
Saturday 21/22 April vs Maritzburg (home)
Saturday 6 May vs St Albans & CBC Boksburg (away)
Saturday 12/13 May vs Hilton College
Saturday 20 May vs St Benedict’s & Northcliff (away)
Saturday 27 May vs Michaelhouse (home)
Saturday 3 June vs Jeppe (home)
Saturday 10 June vs St John’s (away)
IN MEMORIAM
Kevin Derek Verdoorn (1972, Arcadia)
Kevin Verdoorn was a very talented all-round sportsman and most likeable fellow. A useful rugby player at school, he concentrated on cricket and hockey as a youngster at Pretoria High School Old Boys. I remember the great Michael Proctor talking about this brilliant young batsman he bowled to when Kevin played for S.A. Schools against Rhodesia in Salisbury at the end of the Nuffield Week.
Of course I’d already come across him playing for Old Boys against the School and nicknamed him PJ. It stood for Promising Joungster or, when he overdid the partying, when it came to enjoying life.
Working as a young broadcaster at the SABC I lived in Johannesburg but played all my cricket and hockey at Old Boys. Over the weekends I always had a bed at the Verdoorn’s with father, Keith, who played cricket for North Eastern Transvaal in the 1950’s, and mother Faith always making me welcome along with sons, Kevin and Lee, and daughter Colleen.
Kevin and I shared many a batting partnership at Old Boys where he was a prolific run getter and useful medium pace bowler. At only 17 he was picked to play for Northern Transvaal and we played many matches together for the province before he went to live in Durban, where he played a season for Natal. The amazing thing is that, for all his ability, he never made a first class century, despite making 23 fifties, and scoring over 3 500 runs. Mind you we weren’t paid to play in those days and touring and partying were just as important as the cricket. Of course he was also a good hockey player and represented the province.
Later in life, back in Pretoria, he took up bowls and was naturally successful, despite having a hip problem. As a trustee of the Sports Legends Trust, which assists former international and provincial South African sports persons, we flew him to Stellenbosch for a hip replacement, which extended his sports activities.
Having lived in Cape Town for the past 25 years I seldom got to see PJ and his dear wife, Hilary, but will always remember him as a wonderful sportsman and good friend – written by Trevor Quirk.
Kenneth Smith (1956)
Professor Ken Smith, born 1939 in Pretoria. After Matriculation at Pretoria Boys High he obtained a BA at Wits followed by a Teaching Diploma. Teaching and lecturing appointments followed at Hillview High School (introduced Soccer), the University of the North, Rhodes and UNISA, except for a brief spell at Ford in PE. Ken’s field of study was History and he ended his career as Professor of History at UNISA until retirement. He completed his Honours, Masters and Doctorate and also research at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Ken not only authored academic articles and books on History, but also four novels.
He married Pam Maullin, ex Pretoria High School for Girls, in 1962 and they have a daughter, a son and two grandsons. An Irene resident for 26 years he wrote a history of the Irene school and Irene Homes.
A keen bowler all his life and an active member of Irene Country Club Bowls section participating in a number of SA Nationals – submitted by Peter Good.
THE OLD BOYS CLUB
Visiting or living in Pretoria? Remember to visit the Old Boys Club in Lynnwood for a cold one and a delicious bite to eat!
SEND US YOUR NEWS
We all want to know about our Old Boys’ achievements and where they are in the world today! Please send snippets of news and/or photographs with captions so that we can share with all Old Boys and their families.
